Delhi-based author Darshan Singh recently released a book titled Bhau, chronicling the eight weeks beginning from the announcement of the 2004 Lok Sabha elections to the BJP’s defeat. What has got the state abuzz is the obvious parallels to current politicians, from Sharad Pawar, Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav to Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Dravidian leaders. And to a certain shrewd old man who helps ‘Madam’, a European, cobble together a coalition to keep the BJP away.

There are no doubts in Punjab about who that grand old man, called Karam Singh Kirti in the book, is.

Eighty-year-old Singh, who had a long stint with the Russian Consulate, doesn’t deny Surjeet was the inspiration for his protagonist Kirti. “I cannot think of any Left leader as great as him. He was the kingmaker, as we all know, and the architect of the Congress-led UPA’s ride to power in 2004. And since the 2004 elections are my window to politics, the other characters of my book are drawn from the leading national figures in that election.”

While Bhau has raised the hackles of some leaders in the sharply divided Left, others see it as a pure and simple paean to Surjeet. Some writers have termed it a “masterpiece”.

In the book, Kirti talks about how he has already seen two men to prime ministership (presumably H D Deve Gowda and V P Singh) and how a “bibi”, who is the top leader of a national party and probably the next prime minister of the country, is coming to meet him. Later, it’s Kirti who tells her to meet the very people who question her Indianness, one of them being Salve from Maharashtra.

Sonia’s foreign origins were, of course, questioned by NCP leader and Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar, who is now a UPA ally.

Then there is a Bal Gopal, a character who hands over his chief ministership to his wife — no prizes for guessing that.

Besides this, the narrative sheds light on a series of meetings Kirti has with power brokers. Singh calls this “my imagination about how Surjeet would have conducted the entire show during this period”.

The novelist also takes several digs at Marxist leaders who take over the reins of the party after Kirti steps down. He dwells on the CPI(M)’s links with the Russians in the person of a counsel called Lyubov, who comes to meet Kirti from time to time.

Praising the book, well-known short story writer Gulzar Singh Sandhu says: “It is interesting to see how everyone is looking for Sonia, Amar Singh, Lalu and Pawar in the book, which they forget is a piece of fiction. This book is a balanced and correct account of politics of the eight weeks that changed the fate of this nation.”

But some Left leaders like Tarlochan Singh Rana claim Bhau shows “the fall of Surjeet”. According to him, “As a Leftist leader, it was his duty to strengthen the Left and not to side with elitist parties like the Congress. This book clearly shows how Surjeet played politics and helped the UPA win. He comes across as a great political leader but not a worthy Communist.”

Surjeet — often termed the Chanakya of Indian politics — probably would just chuckle.