But there was also a different streak in him. He was a Rajput patriarch eager to keep his clan together.
Accommodate everybody and keep everyone satisfied. The Congress suited him better than various socialist parties. He wanted to reconcile. His role before and during the JP movement is much misunderstood. He was working to bring JP and Indira Gandhi together. Even Mrs Gandhi did not get him right and arrested him along with JP No, Chandra Shekhar was not for confrontation. He kept complaining till the end of his life that some people for their own interest made JP and Indira Gandhi fight and did not allow him to bring them together.
This urge to reconcile mutually opposed and fighting parties made him so effective during the Ramjanmbhumi-Babri Masjid conflict. We have former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao on quote that had the Chandra Shekhar Government lasted for a few more months the conflict would have been solved.
His reason to bring down the VP Singh Government and take charge as Prime Minister was the urgent need to bring down the temperature of the nation fevered by Mandal and Kamandal.
Chandra Shekhar was not an organisation man and therefore never succeeded in building parties and organising movements. His stint as chairman of the Janata Party could not save it from disintegration. Whichever party he presided over after that failed to throw roots and flourish. He undertook a Bharat Yatra and aroused so many hopes but could not build on it. He was not cut out for party politics. He believed in political power unlike JP and Gandhi but did not know how to harness it. He had great friends and believed in maintaining friendships.
It was for him almost a question of honour. But this weakness for relations also made him a prey. The Rajput patriarch had to take 13 members of his family to New York for treatment of his almost terminal cancer. He was loved and respected so much for all his weaknesses and strength. Even a lifelong critic like me is so hopelessly lonely today. Let Chandra Shekhar enliven and enrich our political and public life.
‘A man of the people’
President A P J Abdul Kalam: “Veteran parliamentarian, secularist and socialist known for his convictions to the principles he believed in.... The country has lost a personality who contributed to nation building.”
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat: “He was an exceptional politician with distinct virtues of public service.... The country has lost a nation builder and a legendary personality.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: “...a truly secular nationalist, a man of the people, committed to their welfare and well-being. He belonged to a generation that felt deeply about the importance of ideals and idealism in politics”
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee: “I had the privilege of being his colleague in Parliament for over three decades. I know the void created by his demise is very difficult to fill”
UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi: “He had several qualities but what stood out was his unique nature to express his views without fear and hesitation”
Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee: “He was a friend of friends who lived in politics on his own terms. He had the natural tendency to raise his voice against injustice”
BJP National President Rajnath Singh: “Political warrior who had never compromised on his ideology”
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati: “It was a loss which can never be filled. It was a loss not only for the country but also for the state of Uttar Pradesh”
Railway Minister and RJD chief lalu Prasad Yadav: “He was a great freedom fighter and a fearless and popular leader”
JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav: “With his death the country has lost a leader who knew the pulse of the masses”
Former Prime Minister I K Gujral: “The contribution he made to our political life will be remembered” ENS & PTI
