Rajiv Gandhi had charisma. He was poised to regain power in 1991. But fate had other plans in store
Time does not wait. It is a great leveller. And that is the one constant. Newspaper tributes to mark late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's 22nd death anniversary on May 21 are accompanied by pictures of his radiant smiling face. It is a grim reminder of how the best laid plans go awry. Cut back to the summer of 1990, when the charismatic leader undertook a Bharat Darshan, travelling second class through several States. It was an attempt to boost the Congress's flagging fortunes via a programme, entailing direct contact with ordinary people. This writer, reporting for The Illustrated Weekly of India, and other media people accompanied him through Rajasthan. His erstwhile Cabinet colleague VP Singh now headed a coalition Government at the Centre. As Union Minister for Defence, Singh's exposé of the Bofors deal kickbacks — Rs65 crore, a truly meagre sum by today's standards — had led to Congress dissidents and opponents ganging up to discredit the Prime Minister and the party.
The ensuing defeat in the 1989 general election made Rajiv Gandhi leader of the Opposition. His mother, late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, too had been restricted to the Opposition benches after the Janata Party, an amalgam of various groupings, trounced the Congress in the 1977 lok Sabha poll, after the Emergency was lifted. But the Janata Party Government succumbed to internal sabotage, and the Congress stormed back to power under Indira Gandhi's leadership in the 1980 general election.
Over a decade later, events of the past seemed to be playing out again, with her son Rajiv Gandhi vested with the grave responsibility of restoring the party's image and fortunes. Those were heady days when he embarked on the mass mobilisation campaign. The fact that the Janata Dal Government, headed by VP Singh, lasted only till October 1990, and the succeeding Chandra Shekhar-headed regime, was also shaky, had served to enhance the Congress's ratings nationwide.
Rajiv Gandhi and his aides embarked on Bharat Yatra in 1990. People found it remarkable that the man, born into privilege, and sophisticated and charming, unlike the common run of politicians, and who sometimes chartered an aircraft for state-visits abroad, would mingle in a second-class train compartment with the hoi polloi. He did eventually, boarding the Frontier Mail at New Delhi station along with his entourage, and making efforts to reach out to travellers and reporters, and stepping down on the railway platform at numerous stations. There, mesmerised people thronged around him while he exuded warmth. He was a rock star, surrounded by ardent fans, capable, if he so wished, to lead them away like the Pied Piper of Hamlin. Whether thanking attendants for serving him coffee, or indulging in easy bonhomie with partymen, he remained humble.
Some enraptured women journalists trailed him, one or two hoping, perhaps, for a lok Sabha ticket in the next election. Nor were men impervious to the spell that he appeared to have cast. Congress veteran Balram Jakhar cried out emotionally: “Agar haathi ka pair lag jaaye, to hum bhi paar ho jaayen!”
He was the Boss for his partymen. As he addressed wayside meetings and organised rallies in fluent Hindi, careful not to lapse into the “Hamne dekhna hai” refrain of his early days, it seemed certain that the Congress was on the comeback trail. People were already fed up of the jostling for precedence among leaders of the ruling coalition, and their unending game of one-upmanship.
Two stalwarts, Balram Jakhar and HKl Bhagat, rarely left his side. Buoyed by the positive public response, Seva Dal vice chairman Rameshwar Neekhra had sagely observed that the yatra would dispel the notion that Rajiv Gandhi lived in an “air-conditioned ivory tower”.
The former Prime Minister himself was more restrained while commenting. The yatra was a party-oriented programme, organisational election being long overdue. Infighting between factions broke out at Bharatpur, Sikar and Jaipur. At Bharatpur, Rajiv Gandhi was surrounded by women of all ages. Dressed in traditional regalia, they turned out in large numbers at another station. Elsewhere, a middle-aged female gave him her mangalsutra. He was undoubtedly popular with the fair sex.
In the rail bogie, teenage girls tried hard to get his autograph, and finally succeeded. Rajiv Gandhi, flushed with joy, the Bofors allegations a fading memory, chatted affably with passengers. He was in his element as a man of the masses. The accompanying journalists grilled him about his sartorial preferences. A reporter wanted to know the make of the shoes he wore. “I do not wear Gucci shoes or Porsche dark glasses!” exclaimed the amused leader.
Security was extremely lax, a failure that a year later would prove fatal when he went to Sriperumbudur. An lTTE female bomber would blow him up. Tragically, it helped the Congress return to power in the 1991 general election, with an old leader, on the verge of retirement, PV Narasimha Rao, taking over as Prime Minister, with a future Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in tow.