In I vs I battle, it won't be ..... Power & Politics/The Sunday Standard/ October 27, 2013

In I vs I battle, it won't be easy for RaGa, NaMo to convince India of their worth

Indian politics is no more an Armageddon of ideologies. Electoral verdicts no longer define political ensigns of those who follow the bugle of the ballot. As ideological divides get blurred, elections are fought around personalities and not performance. The current clash of the Titans—Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi—defines the evaporation of a structured model or mantra for governance. The national discourse revolves around faults and faculties of RaGa and NaMo. Even the age difference between the two doesn’t deter critics and admirers from shifting the debate beyond the known and unknown skills of both leaders. Modi is 64 and Rahul 43.

If their demagoguery during the past two weeks is any indication, the election is being turned into I vs I. Their campaign tells a tale of new politics. Both talk more about themselves and less about what they represent. Rahul has convinced himself that invoking the Gandhi name, family culture and their sacrifices will sway the national Weltanschauung. When he talks about the assassinations of his grandmother and father, he is drilling the point that it is his family alone which can keep the country united and that he is not afraid to meet his Hamletian fate to save India. His speech writers are following the golden principle that an oration delivered with a correct mix of emotional charge and personal anecdotes is capable of carrying the target audience than words full of lofty ideas and dreams. Rahul’s clear strategy is to make himself, and not the Congress, his opponent’s target. He seems to have picked a leaf out of his grandmother and mother’s political strategy. Both Indira and Sonia have been primary targets of vicious personal campaigns. Indira was called a goongi gudia (dumb doll). Sonia’s Italian connection and her association with an Italian businessman has been the subject of barbs. But both staged comebacks. Indira recaptured the throne in 1980 with two-thirds majority, barely 30 months after she lost it in the spindrift of Emergency. In 2004, Sonia’s silent campaign led to the ouster of the government led by Atal Bihari

Vajpayee. Within two decades, she nearly doubled her party’s strength in Lok Sabha from 112 to 206. The Gandhi Parivar feels that the last two victories were appropriate rebuffs to those who indulged in personal attacks. Rahul is just experimenting with history. He is undeterred by the ridicule he invited for some of his recent politically incorrect utterances, including the one on Muzzarffarnagar riots.

Not to be left behind, NaMo has made his indigent origins his selling point. He doesn’t miss any chance to tell audiences that he used to sell tea and couldn’t attend a good school. He wants people to elect him the guardian of India’s treasury to prevent corruption. Without naming Rahul, Modi paints him as a leader born with the proverbial silver spoon. He calls Rahul “Yuvraj” and now “Shehzada”, who is thriving because he was born into the right family but failed to acquire any skills for dealing with ordinary Indians. Modi’s electoral aria is based on his own brand of politics and the Modi Mantra, which revolves around his style. Through gestures and choice of idioms, NaMo paints himself a victim of a campaign of hatred launched by a cabal of elitist social activists and NGOs. His promoters make the point that despite maintaining communal harmony and a spectacular performance in Gujarat, NaMo is being branded the Great Divider because he is a threat to votebank politics. Modi considers himself an outsider and a serious challenger to the class-oriented establishment. These sustained and dangerous personal attacks on NaMo have only made him one of the most popular political brands. He has converted Poll-2014 into a battle between pedigree vs performance; rich vs poor.

But there appears some method behind this personality-driven madness. RaGa’s political genealogy reminds one of Indira’s hyperbolic speechcraft on Garibi Hatao and whatever went in the name of a welfare state. Economics was hardly the central theme of her politics. Sonia adopted the Indira Doctrine, ignoring economic transformation brought by her late husband Rajiv. RaGa represents the aggressive and confrontationist politics of his grandmother and the socialist inclinations of his mother. For him, using state funds to provide freebies makes better politics than creating a favourable climate for markets and foreign investments. Rajiv ignored his mother and grandfather by dumping the mixed economy model by following P V Narasimha Rao who disowned Nehruvian Mantra. History has come full circle with RaGa pleading for a dominant role for the state. Unlike his father for whom good economics made better politics, RaGa is reinventing the grammar of good politics, which would lead to better economics.

Modi flies the banderole of good economics. The villain of 2002 is the new hero of 2013 because he is talking about delivery, development and dialogue. NaMo is the real follower of both Rajiv and Rao who created oligopoly. Rao opened up the economy for industrial houses, which were denied access to state patronage by Nehru and Indira. NaMo has promoted and created powerful corporate leaders in Gujarat and won over traditional Congress supporters even if it meant compromising with those who are opposed to his core ideology. NaMo talks technology, uses technology and swears by the markets. Like RaGa, the BJP’s PM candidate rarely dwells on international issues.

In what appears to be an apocalyptic confrontation between a declared PM contender and a scion of India’s perennial ruling family, their plights and delights have become bazaar babble. Political strategies and weaponry are being honed and polished. But for both leaders, it will not be an easy task to convince a self-righteous and argumentative India united by a 5,000-year-old cultural heritage of unity in diversity, of their true worth.

prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me  on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

In death as in life, Arun Nehru .... Power & Politics / July 28, 2013/ The Sunday Standard

In death as in life, Arun Nehru remains the envy of many a wannabe politician

Arun is no more. But the idea of Arun Nehru still reverberates in the corridors of power. He had no ideology, but he was not a fence-sitter either. North Block’s high red stone walls still echo with the narrative which Arun wrote as India’s first Minister of State for internal security. His was an era of decisiveness. Now indecision rules the roost. He acquired power beyond his official designation, surveying Parliament from the window of his sprawling office. He was just a junior minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. But he was a Nehru of his own kind—a symbol of ruthless authority. He knew the art of using power to demolish adversaries, but was also one who stood by his friends. Unlike his paternal uncle Jawaharlal Nehru, the portly Arun was not an articulate and affable diplomat. He applied the dirty tricks of corporate salesmanship to politics, but is credited with giving the governments of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv a modern and business-like look.

At his unsung funeral on Friday, the beneficiaries of his munificence were conspicuous by their absence. Sonia Gandhi and her children, however, graciously turned up to show their emotional family bonding with the person who was perceived a betrayer. They humbly stood in the queue to accept condolences from Arun’s friends and relatives.

Most of the 200 persons who turned up at the Lodhi cremation ground were unanimous on Arun’s capacity to acquire information. For him, raw information was power, which he used effectively during his 10 years in active politics. Indira invited him to join politics after Sanjay’s death in May 1980. She wanted someone from the family to assist Rajiv learn the political ropes. Arun, Vijay Dhar and Arun Singh made up the troika that advised Rajiv on the party and the government structure. They had no clue to practical politics. Yet, Arun became the Gandhis’ most important adviser. Indira brought him in to neutralise the growing impact of R K Dhawan, who was seen as a political threat to Rajiv. As Rajiv acquired more responsibilities as the party general secretary, Arun became his political guru. As Punjab terrorism, growing corruption, inflation and the growth of regional satraps made things difficult for Indira, Rajiv and Arun began to tackle all such issues. It was Arun’s idea to marginalise the old guard and get proactive in government. He once confided in me that Rajiv’s success would depend on his ability to drop his mother’s political baggage, otherwise the cabal would ensure his failure. Both cousins decided to fix deadline and accountability, which was reflected in the 1982 Asian Games. Arun Nehru, Arun Singh and Rajiv took direct charge and ensured the event’s success.

Arun’s ruthlessness became apparent when he inherited Indira’s trait of crushing foes without batting an eyelid. As regional leaders became a major threat, both Rajiv and Arun decided to teach some of them a lesson. In July 1984, the Congress decided to get rid of NT Rama Rao’s government in Andhra Pradesh. Defections were encouraged. Though the cousins did not favour the move, they were told to implement it; governor Ram Lal, a Gandhi loyalist, was directed to swear in N Bhasker Rao as CM. Rao survived just 31 days and NTR came back. Arun ensured that Ram Lal, who botched up by giving false assurances, was dismissed. In the same month, Indira fell out with Farooq Abdullah and J&K governor Jagmohan was asked to dismiss him.

When Mrs Gandhi was assassinated on October 31, 1984, it was Arun’s strategy that made Rajiv PM. Along with Dhawan, he arrived at Palam airport to receive President Zail Singh returning from Yemen. Arun asked him to appoint Rajiv as the next PM; the formal meeting of the CPC would follow later. It was for the first time that a new PM was anointed without being elected as the leader of his party.

Arun’s skills as an administrator became visible after he became the internal security minister. All intelligence agencies reported to him. He conceptualised the Special Protection Group for the security of the PM and family members. Along with Arun Singh, he introduced new government departments and merged many into one. Both believed in a smaller government with clear, defined responsibilities. As his powers increased along with then finance minister V P Singh’s, Arun became the victim of feudal politics. They were blamed for undercutting Rajiv, who was misled by corporate and vested interests. When Arun suffered a heart attack while holidaying in Kashmir, most of his powers were taken away. A year later, V P Singh was removed as finance minister. They had lost both power and the Gandhi Parivar’s confidence. They became rebels and ensured that Rajiv lost power in 1989. Arun was the most powerful minister in V P Singh’s Cabinet, who stood firm on governance. When terrorists kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed, Mufti Sayeed’s daughter, four days after he became home minister, Arun opposed the release of their jailed comrades in exchange for Rubaiya’s freedom. He was overruled. Later, when V P Singh opted for the Mandal Commission, Arun vehemently opposed it. Singh lost his government and Arun, being close to LK Advani, decided to join the BJP. Without a decisive role, however, he became a misfit in politics.

Until the end, however, he loved to gather political information. Political forecasting was his passion and Arun remained in touch with his contacts in the Congress and other parties. He also knew how not to live beyond his means. His name was associated with many scandals, none of which were proved to be true. He drove a Maruti, lived in a small farmhouse, which he had bought in early 1980s, and never regretted the loss of the aura of the Nehru pedigree. In death as in life, Arun remains the envy of many a wannabe politician who aspires to be a Nehru like him.

prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com; Follow me  on Twitter @PrabhuChawla

Power & Politics / Mail Today, October 05, 2009

FOR THE government and indeed for the Congress party, the biggest challenge on the international front lies not in the NPT, CTBT or getting a seat on the Security Council. It is the Commonwealth Games that are due to begin in New Delhi exactly a year from now. The CWG is the biggest sporting event to be held in the country since the 1982 Asian Games. When New Delhi won the bid for the CWG in 2004, India had hoped to use the games to showcase the country’s economic progress in much the same way that China did during Beijing 2008.

Unless a miracle is pulled off, the games are doomed to become an international sporting disaster which, in an ironic twist to the tourism ministry’s “ Incredible India” campaign, will end up showing just how incredibly slothful the second fastest growing economy in the world is.

Besides a loss of face, forfeiting the games could impact India vastly on the international front. Now that another Gandhi Jayanti has come and gone and Rahul Gandhi has exceeded his wildest expectations by persuading his partymen to spend a day with a Dalit family, there are ministers and Congress leaders who believe it’s time Rahul shed symbolism and got down to serious business by taking up the challenge of ensuring the successful conduct of the CWG. That sets my mind back to the 1980’ s.

Then, as now, we were running woefully behind schedule. An international commitment that the Indira Gandhi government had given in 1976 to host the 1982 games was ignored by the Janata Party government which thought it was no big deal if India forfeited the games. When Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980, she had just about two and a half years to get the then overgrown village that was Delhi into shape for the Asian Games. She sidelined Vidya Charan Shukla, then chief of the Indian Olympic Committee ( the post is now occupied by Suresh Kalmadi), appointed a Special Organising Committee with Buta Singh as its chief and appointed her son Rajiv Gandhi as a special invitee to the SOC. Things began to move at a rapid pace with Rajiv taking special care to ensure that nothing was lacking and no effort spared. He assigned his close aide Arun Singh to monitor the progress of all facilities on a day to day basis and brought in people known for their competence into key areas.

Sankaran Nair, Indira Rajiv Gandhi Gandhi’s security chief, was made secretary general of the SOC. Jagmohan was brought back from Goa where he was Lt Governor and given a key charge and so were KP Singh Deo, Kiran Bedi, HKL Bhagat, Air Vice Marshal HL Kapur and others. They were assisted by a volunteer army of thousands.

Rajiv himself visited the stadia, the games village and other sites daily and held meetings, often twice or thrice a day. I remember once he took me along on one of his inspection tours. It lasted nearly eight hours during which time we visited the Asiad Village, the indoor stadium on the Yamuna banks near ITO, the swimming complex at Talkatora and the main venue, the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. His efforts bore fruit and the ninth Asiad was a spectacular sporting success and an organisational triumph for India.

Long before Obama made it a catch phrase, Rajiv showed us “ Yes We Can”. But now there is a real danger that this time next year, as a nation we would have collected a lot of eggs on our face. This week, Mike Fennel, the CWG federation chief, will meet Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to tell him that India stands the risk of being branded a pariah on the international sporting stage. That’s why I wholly support the ministers who feel only Rahul can save the games. He should step in, induct his young Congress colleagues, including ministers, many of whom aren’t doing enough because the senior ministers refuse to allocate any meaningful work to them.

They are all incredibly gifted young men whose talents are wasted in the council of ministers. Admirers of the young Rahul feel that he should, as his father did, get rid of the fellows who have been lining their pockets in the name of the CWG, and lead the team. I am sure they will deliver. We can still put up a spectacular show that will make all Indians proud.

How a cyanide capsule delayed Prabhakaran’s meeting with Rajiv Gandhi

It was June 1985 and there was an interesting visitor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 7 Race Course Road residence— Velupillai Prabhakaran, the young chief of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Tigers were then the largest and best organised of the pro-Eelam groups fighting for a separate homeland in Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran was put up at the Ashoka hotel and accompanied by his senior lieutenants—Mahendrajah alias Mahattya and Anton Balasingham. When the trio reached the security screening area at the PM’s residence, when the newly- raised Special Protection Group (SPG) which exclusively protected the Prime Minister, raised an alarm. All the leaders were wearing cyanide capsules carried in a glass capsule which dangled from black threads around their necks. The cyanide capsule was a accessory all LTTE cadre sported to avoid torture at the hands of the Sri Lankan authorities. Both the IB and the newly-raised Special Protection Group (SPG) which guarded the PM were unanimous—the cyanide capsules would have to be taken off. Mahattya and Balasingham complied, but Prabhakaran refused. “This is my protection, how can I take it off?” the indignant leader told me in Tamil through an interpreter. The SPG and the IB feared that the mercurial leader could use the lethal capsule to kill Rajiv Gandhi. A senior and very influential IB officer even tried to persuade Prabhakaran, but the guerilla simply refused to budge. Finally, after nearly 45 minutes, a compromise was reached. Prabhakaran could wear the cyanide capsule, but he would be escorted by two SPG guards. They would ensure that he made no sudden moves. Rajiv Gandhi was kept at a certain distance from him. The SPG joined two tables together to ensure that Prabhakaran would never come within handshaking distance of Rajiv Gandhi. The meeting went off well. It’s a different matter that just six years later, Prabhakaran would kill his former host using another trademark weapon in the tiger arsenal—the suicide bomber.

Read > Profile of a Tiger and Prabhakaran's exclusive interview in 1986