The first IITian to join mainstream politics became Chief Minister of a State and eventually rose to the post of Defence Minister of the country. The inimitable Manohar Parrikar was the batch-mate of the illustrious Indian entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani who has given Indians the Aadhaar card. Parrikar took over as Goa Chief Minister in 2000 during his worst personal times. His wife Medha died of cancer just a month before his oath-taking.
Parrikar became globally famous for his unpretentious simplicity. He rode a bicycle or scooter to the Goa Vidhan Sabha. Whenever he felt tired or weak, he would proudly travel by public transport. He never moved into the CM’s official residence; lived in his own humble house and travelled in his old car until the last healthy day.
He was known as the cleanest politician on the planet at one time. Parrikar had once termed LK Advani a rancid pickle, saying it was time the old man retired happily and provided guidance only when necessary. After victory in 2014, Modi was frantic to have one or two sharp-skilled guys in the Cabinet. Parrikar was the obvious choice to manage the Defence Ministry.
Parrikar told friends that his knees buckled on the first day as a Defence Minister because he knew nothing about the military, arms or warfare. But Modi’s honest advisors knew too well that Parrikar would hardly take any time to figure out what was best for the armed forces and what reforms needed to strengthen the forces.
What is not known to many is that long before anyone could figure out that a ‘Modi wave' would sweep across the country, Parrikar had told everyone that if Modi, with his enviable track records in Gujarat, was projected as the PM face, the party would gain immensely. The party honchos went by his advice and the eternal quest for the PM face was over.
Parrikar was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2018. He went for a cure to hospitals abroad and in India. But whenever he felt a little comfortable, he would rush to work in his frail frame as workaholic as always.
He walked out of the hospital and reached workplace with a life-support tube in nostrils and strong medicines taken by the hour, admitting bravely that he was battling a ‘life-threatening disease', but there was no reason why he should not continue to work till his mind was alert and body permitted him to move.
He would still beam a faint smile and say he enjoyed doing his job as the people trusted him as one who could give them relief and justice and on time. He died on March 17, 2019. A brilliant star of India is thus gone!
The Modi-Shah team has flourished with support from social marketing wizards. Prashant Kishore did big magic for the party in 2014. Kishore has, meanwhile, left the saffron outfit and landed on
more efficient shores where marketing tricks do not count
so much.
Parrikar’s absence in Goa led to a virtual defeat of the BJP in the last State elections. But the Goa people, used to seeing Parrikar as their leader, began losing faith in the new leader so much as to force the Modi-Shah duo to dispatch Parrikar back home to Goa. On January 30, he presented the State Budget in the Assembly.
The frail appearance, with a tube in his nose drew severe criticism from the opposition which screamed that a ‘physically finished' CM should be dropped forthwith to facilitate smooth functioning of the Cabinet.
But the unshaken Parrikar would make it clear in a short speech that he would talk less now to save all his energy
to play an active role in the campaign for the coming Lok Sabha elections. He was still
fit enough to run his State with ease.
Parrikar was unlike the typical BJP or RSS leader in some ways but added that the difference was not substantial. He did not implement the Hindutva agenda in the same rabid way the RSS and BJP would have wanted him to.
But he did implement the same agenda in subtle ways. Also, he made some compromises because he wanted to develop Goa and he could not have done it if he carried the Hindutva baggage as distinctly as other RSS-BJP leaders. One thing was certain: Parrikar’s identification with the BJP was absolute.
A very senior BJP national leader had publicly said Parrikar was deployed in early 2017 as the BJP’s ‘only credible weapon' when nothing else was going the party’s way. Then they had no leader, no face, nobody who had stature to lead the BJP in the 2017 elections. Goa is not Uttar Pradesh or even Maharashtra where Modi’s appeal could see the party through. Goa is a very localised State and it appreciates nativity.
In Parrikar’s death, India lost one of the most patriotic politicians who served the people until his last breadth and with incredible guts and compassion for distressed communities whom he enjoyed serving with joy and pride.
The Pulwama terror attack witnessed the killing of great sons of India, who became martyrs to occupy space in history books. But Parrikar is one of the greatest martyrs who gave his last breadth to the people. He protected them like a super soldier and planned great schemes for their relief and happiness, all at a colossal price due to unheard of personal sacrifice. His two sons have been groomed by him so well as to remain simple and people-friendly.
Without Parrikar, the BJP will never be the same again! When Modi ran in 2014, he promised to replicate the ‘Gujarat model' of governance across the rest of India. Most voters expected big, employment and money generating public-private partnership projects like the Kutch Railways, FDI (Ford’s Sanand plant) or innovative solutions (Narmada canal solar panels) and more. Modi did replicate some of these ideas including the pact with France to develop solar farms across rural India. But his boastful promises of black money recovery and abrogation of Articles 370, etc., are causing big trouble now. The Hindi belt has nearly vanquished the saffron party. Stellar party faces like Arun Shourie, Shatrughan Sinha and many more have abandoned him with good logic.
Though the Pulwama and the resultant Balakot episodes have brought in some strength to the regime, there is cry for concrete proofs in hand. Obviously, Modi overrated himself for the overwhelming 2014 mandate which was certainly due to a very strong anti-incumbency factor.
Modi got swayed and ignored to promote a robust private economy that generates good wealth for use for quality development. Instead of keeping the government only as an umpire, he injected the government into everything that is meant for the masses. His promise of minimum government has failed miserably. His accumulation of power has come at the expense of States which have been robbed of their abilities to be ‘laboratories of democracy'. Modi is frantic to keep all powers with the Centre so as to arm-twist the States easily.
The GST regime, which is certainly more efficient than the old one, subsumes all State taxes into one tax to be under the Central Government control. Most significantly, a rabidly Aadhaar-hating Modi chose to embrace Aadhaar even more wholeheartedly than its original promoters. The informal economy where even ill-gotten cash is king as it drove India’s economy since the privatisation programmes of the early 1990s initiated by financial wizard Manmohan Singh.
To win a second stint, Modi has to slug with extremely effective campaign plans this election season. He has caused a great deal of public disenchantment for having ignored the ‘governance model' promised in the last manifesto.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)
