Marxist veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet will not be present at the party’s 19th Congress that starts on March 29, six days after his 93rd birthday. BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already missed a national executive of his party on health grounds—the first time in his life. Before his 83rd birthday on December 25, Vajpayee handed over the baton to L.K. Advani.

Vajpayee is a mass leader and Surjeet a political manager, but both have presided over the paradigm shift of Indian politics to coalitions. Vajpayee used all his charm and appeal to build an anti-Congress alliance, while Surjeet used his first to cut down the Congress and then to stop Vajpayee. Both will have no role to play in the next elections and it marks the end of an era that started in late 1980s when these leaders argued within their parties on the need and desirability of alliances.

In 1988, Vajpayee showed his party the benefits of coalitions after a successful experiment with the Lok Dal in Haryana. In the CPI(M), Surjeet and Jyoti Basu argued that an indirect cooperation with BJP to cut down the Congress was good. The cooperation between the Left, BJP and the Janata Dal led to the formation of V P Singh’s government in 1989.

‘‘Both have a special ability to rise above their own parties and maintain good personal rapport with leaders of other parties. They command respect from others,’’ says JDU leader Sharad Yadav who has closely worked with both. The TDP, AIADMK, DMK and various factions of the Janata Parivar often switched sides, either citing Vajpayee’s statesmanlike presence or coming under the persuasive spell of the Sardar.

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