A gentleman who had the memory of an elephant
With the death of Pranab Mukherjee, Pranab da as we all addressed him, India and Indian politics are left with a void. He served the Indian parliament and many Indian governments in leading positions in his five-decade-long political life.
He entered the Rajya Sabha when I was still in school. Despite his seniority, he never treated people like me in a condescending manner. As far as I am concerned, he had always treated me as an equal, never expressing any acrimony over our differences.
Right from the 1970s, there were occasions when l had to confront Pranabda, as Indra
Gandhi’s trusted cabinet colleague, during the Emergency.
Differences continued all through my association with him for nearly four decades. Though not in parliament, in various political delegations I had to confront him when he, as the commerce minister, was negotiating the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and drawing India into supporting the Dunkel Draft. We were protesting on the streets of Delhi while Pranabda was presiding over India’s role in the WTO’s formation.
However, it was during the period of the Vajpayee government and the efforts for uniting the secular opposition parties to defeat that government in the 2004 general elections that I had the opportunity to interact with him closely. During these discussions, particularly concerning the simultaneous assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh over seat adjustments, Pranabda was leading the Congress delegation. During the course of one of these often contentious discussions, he suddenly took me aside to ask my opinion on whether he should contest the Lok Sabha election. He had never entered the Lok Sabha as an elected MP till then. I recollect telling him that I am too junior to give someone like him any advice and refused. He, however, insisted. I told him that he should contest only if he was more than confident of victory. In those crucial elections, when we were working for the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Pranabda losing would send a very wrong signal. Eventually, he contested and won from Jangipur and then emerged as the main pointsman of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the coalition government that was formed. He was indispensable for the UPA government, serving on every committee with the coalition partners, particularly, UPA-Left coordination committee.
He had always insisted that I should come to parliament. When the Party told me to, I entered the Rajya Sabha in 2005 and felt very touched by the manner Pranabda received me, giving me valuable tips about something that I had very little knowledge of, i.e. parliamentary proceedings. All through those years, till he was elected President of India, we had been having almost daily interactions.
On one occasion, claiming success for insulating India from the 2008 global financial meltdown, Pranabda told the Rajya Sabha that the Indian banking and financial system was spared thanks to Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalisation. This was soon after the Left withdrew its support from the UPA in 2008 following the disagreements over the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. I recollect my interrupting him and urging him to yield to allow me to make a point which he graciously did. Such parliamentary decorum and dignity has now become a thing of the past. I had then told the house that bank nationalisation was one of the conditions that the Left parties had then put before Indira Gandhi in return for their support to her presidential candidate V.V. Giri. In addition, the Left had also asked for coal nationalisation. Pranabda had a memory of an elephant. He recalled the details of the talks, of which I knew very little, and went on to say that one more demand was the abolition of privy purses. I was till then under the impression that this demand was raised by others whom Indira Gandhi had approached for support. Nonetheless, I recollect saying then that whenever the Congress Party heeded the advice of the Left, it not only helped its government but, importantly, benefited the country. However, unfortunately, this is not being followed with regard to the Indo-US nuclear deal. There was the usual merriment and interruptions in the proceedings but not for a minute did Pranabda lose his cool, having to contend with a person very junior to him in politics. He maintained that decorum of treating everyone on an equal footing, giving the highest priority to the culture of debate, discussion and decision in parliamentary proceedings.
The first official visit Pranabda undertook after becoming the President of India was to Bangladesh. He received a rousing welcome as the son-in-law of Bangladesh as his wife Surva migrated from this part of undivided Bengal. His knowledge of Bengal, its culture, the partition, the agonies and tribulations was phenomenal. He was a person who was deeply engrossed in the culture and life of the Bengalis.
All this was magnified, peppered with nostalgia, when we had visited Jorasanko, the ancestral home of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. He would regale us with many an anecdote and stories about Tagore’s life and work which I had never known before.
I can go on narrating many such personal experiences, but these shall be cherished for a future occasion.
Pranab da will be missed. My heartfelt condolences to his son Abhijit and daughter Sharmishta.