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OBITUARY
End
of the Gandhi Topi
 Sitaram
Kesri must have been the loneliest of Congressmen. He lived his last days
in a private planet of unrewarded loyalty and powerlessness, and died
in self-chosen isolation. His evolutionary tale ran parallel to the life
and times of his party, the most defining political force of 20th century
India. It was struggle, liberation, power, absolute power, decline, and
stagnation. Something that can be said about Kesri too.
Four years
ago, when he became the Congress president, the moment should have been
the logical culmination of a career steeped in eternal virtues of the
most obedient Congressman. There was even a kind of celebration at the
lowest level-the grassroots partymen: one of us could make it. Not charismatic,
non-elitist, and still Kesri became the elected boss. The humble Seva
Dal worker, the treasurer ... now the supreme leader without a privileged
surname. As keeper of the party treasury for 17 years, he was the most
trusted one, and the popularity was there in the slogan of the time: khata
na bahi, jo Kesri kahe wohi sahee (Whatever Kesri says is the truth).
The keeper of over Rs 10,000 crore deserved it. Reward for being reliable,
hard- working and reasonably inconspicuous. Thankfully, the Dynasty was
in a to-be-or-not-to-be mood.
Still, the
nation will not remember Kesri for his symbolism. He has immortalised
himself by parading his ambition, rather, his dream. It was the belated
freedom of the erstwhile servile when Kesri thought, at long last, prime
ministership was within reach. For once, H.D. Deve Gowda, the victim of
Kesri's Dream Unbound, and who was not particularly known for his turn
of phrases, came out with an apt description of his tormentor: "an
old man in a hurry". India missed a prime minister, and, for a while,
had instability, and finally, yet another mid-term election.
There was
a spartan charm about the last Congressman in a Gandhi topi. For instance,
he preferred gaddi-bolsters-spitoon to chair-and-table in his office.
A far cry from the Gucci-Cartier subculture of the Congress. A notable
contribution of his party presidency was the return of the prodigal-Madhavrao
Scindia, Arjun Singh and N.D. Tiwari. He facilitated the merger of the
Congress (Tiwari) with the parent party. He was the one who brought Manmohan
Singh, the liberalisation pioneer, to the Congress Working Committee.
Simultaneously-and paradoxically-he projected himself as the second Mandal
messiah. He devoted a considerable part of his energy to fight phantoms
of Brahminical forces. Understandable because he was an outsider. With
the stated objective of reclaiming alienated vote banks, Kesri called
his own ascent a resurgence of the backward classes within the Congress.
To further his cause, he turned against the man who made it possible for
him to become party president. He humiliated P.V. Narasimha Rao out of
the office of chairman of the Congress party in Parliament. That made
him a soft target for Sonia loyalists who had by then swelled the Congress
ranks.
In between
he ventured to conduct party polls and faced a challenge from younger
leaders such as Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot. Though he secured a convincing
victory, the downward march had begun. The Sonia brigade didn't have to
try much to author an unceremonious Kesri exit. There were public perception
surveys that termed his leadership "aged and jaded". The Soniaites
forced him to withdraw support to the Gujral government on the issue of
the Jain Commission observations on the DMK and thrust an election on
the nation. They used the results for another leadership change. The 79-year-old
man, who once placed his Gandhi topi at Sonia's feet entreating her to
take over the Congress, was virtually booted out.
Sonia brought
him back to the Congress Working Committee as a special invitee. The rehabilitation
warmed Kesri's heart and he continued to offer his counsel whenever it
was sought. When Congressmen disenchanted with the methods of 10 Janpath
turned to the grand old man for solace, Chacha was as benevolent as ever.
His successor's inability to bring the party to power led many Congress
leaders to cry over his shoulders. When his house became a centre of activity,
Sonia grew suspicious and denied him a Rajya Sabha nomination early this
year. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government allowed him to retain the bungalow
as a freedom fighter and redeemed his honour. The irony was overwhelming:
it took a BJP Government to rehabilitate the senior leader of India's
GOP.
There was
no tragedy in Sitaram Kesri. Only pathos.
-Lakshmi
Iyer
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