chandrashekhar - my friend turned foe turned friend

8/10/2019 Chandrashekhar - My Friend Turned Foe Turned Friend

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My friend turned Foe turned friend : Chandrashekhar

Former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar and I had known each other on a personal basis since

1974. Three years earlier in 1971, he had won my admiration by writing an editorial in a

magazine, he was bringing out called Young Indian, in which he praised my book then just

published titled Indian Economic Planning -An Alternative Approach. Mrs. Gandhi haddenounced the book in Parliament as a "dangerous thesis". My thesis was that socialism would

not work in India, and would breed governmental corruption. If we wanted to remove poverty

and develop nuclear weapons then we should give up our dependence on the Soviet model of

governmental controls and move to market economy. I did not advocate like Rajaji a "free

market", but a market economy in which the government will have a role to play as an

"umpire" between consumers and producers. But both consumers and producers will be free to

act within simple rules. Rajaji had advocated the "survival of the fittest" principle, and saw no

role for the government to protect the weak against the strong using unfair means.

In my book, I had also advocated that for our exports we should develop relations with Israel

and China. Naturally my book brought a torrent of abuse from the communists who denounced

me as an "American agent" because they could not answer my arguments. Time has proved me

right because today we are moving towards a market economy and have improved our relations

with Israel and China.

Chandrashekhar in his editorial understood my distinction between free market capitalist

economy advocated by Swatantra Party and my concept of market capitalist economy. The

former was for "free competition" and the latter for "fair competition". Today I am against

opening the doors blindly to multinational corporations because that "free competition" will kill

our local industry due multinationals access to capital which our industry does not have. But

"fair competition" will ensure that if multinational have some advantage, the government


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provides some support (such as cheap credit) to local industry to make the contest or

competition equal. I also believe that if Americans ask us to open the market for their capital,

we should demand that they open their country to our labour to freely go there. Why should

capital have free entry but not labour?

To hide these attractive nationalistic ideas, Mrs. Gandhi's Congress and the Communists not

only denounced me as an American agent, but got me removed from my Professor's post at the

IIT, Delhi (which post was restored to me in 1991 after 20 years by the Delhi Court). In these

circumstances, for Chandrashekhar, then a Congress working committee and a friend of Indira

Gandhi, to come out publicly in my support took all by surprise, but won my admiration for his

courage.

I first met Chandrashekhar in 1974 at the Lucknow coffee house located in the famous

Hazratbal area. In those days, politicians used to meet intellectuals in coffee houses. Five star

hotels had not come into fashion. Both Chandrashekhar and I had been made candidates for

Rajya Sabha by our respective parties. He was surrounded by Congress party workers and me

of Jan Sangh. I went up to him and introduced myself to him. Congress party workers snarled

at me for my anti -Congress statements. But Chandrashekhar got up from his chair and silenced

them. He then introduced me to them as an original thinker to whom Congress should listen to.

After that Chandrashekhar met me often in Parliament and the friendship grew. It reached a

peak during the Emergency, when he wrote glowingly about my daring escape from

Parliament.

Chandrashekhar was made President of the newly formed Janata party in 1977, but because I

had become a friend of Morarji, a strain developed in our relations. Because I remained

steadfast with Morarji, and Chandrashekhar's close circle contained two of the most poisonous

minds in Indian politics -- Vajpayee and Ramakrishna Hegde-- the relation between us

fluctuated and reached a flash point in 1984 when with Morarji's backing I contested for the

post of Janata party President against Chandrashekhar in the party polls. I was Deputy Leader


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in Parliament then. It was a literal Mahabharata with every newspaper giving front page

coverage. Although I lost the election, I got 25 percent of the vote under very imperfect

conditions of polling. Morarji refused to accept the verdict saying it was rigged. But

Chandrashekhar's circle knew that if not now, two years later at the next party poll, I would

certainly be elected President of the party.

The modern Mantharas (Kaikeyi's adviser in Ramayana) began to work on Chandrashekhar.

Chandrashekhar suddenly announcing my expulsion from the party for six years, a few weeks

before the Lok Sabha polls. Both Chandrashekhar and I were defeated for the same reason ---

we opposed operation Bluestar in the Amristar Golden temple.

In the meantime, Ramakrishna Hegde got re-elected to become the CM of the Karnataka

government. Like Moopanar has become a media-favourite today, Hegde became the media

darling. This went to his head and soon he began plotting against Chandrashekhar, and to

remove him from the President ship of the party. This not only hurt Chandrashekhar because it

was he who against the part wishes in 1983, had foisted Hegde as the CM over the claim of

Deve Gowda. He also realized that till the time I was in the party, Mr.Hegde used to run to

Chandrashekhar for protection, to save him from all the corruption charges that I had been

collecting against Hegde (these charges were all proved later by the Justice Kuldip Singh

Commission).

Therefore, one day in 1986, Mr.Jayant Malhoutra (now Rajya Sabha MP) came to see me. He

was a very good friend of Chandrashekhar. He said that he had talked to Chandrashekhar, and

he felt that now he (Chandrashekhar) understood why Hegde was so keen to get rid of me from

the party. Malhoutra asked me that since Chandrashekhar realizes this, could not I and

Chandrashekhar become friends again.

At first I protested. "How can I when he has expelled me for six years, and made me suffer?"

But after some persuasion, I agreed on the principle that when we meet, it will be "bygones will

be bygones" and we will think only of the future. Malhoutra talked Chandrashekhar on the


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him for the 1989 Lok Sabha elections as the Janata Partys PM candidate.

Of course, I was against the idea because I had known that Hegde was an immoral character

and a crook. I certainly was not going to allow him to become Prime Minister if it was in my

power to stop him. So I convinced Chandrashekhar that he was anyway going to lose his

Presidentship due to Hegde's high voltage campaign. I also told him that after the merger of the

Lok Dal with Janata, Ajit and I would jointly work to make him Prime Minister with in the

next two years.

A good quality about Chandrashekhar is that if he is convinced about something, he acts

swiftly. He does not hesitate thereafter. He thus quickly moved and called a Janata Working

Committee Meeting to bring about the Lok Dal merger with the Janata Party. Hegde was so

shocked by the speed of our action that he could not block the move. After all Janata Party was

going to expand we argued, getting Lok Dal MLAs in UP, Bihar and Rajasthan to join the

party. Ajit Singh thus became President and I was made General Secretary of the Party.

Considering that in 1984, I had been expelled from the Janata Party for six years by

Chandrashekhar, the same Chandrashekhar now before even three years of the six over,

brushed aside all objections, admitted me to the party and made me once again General

Secretary of the party. Hegde and his friends in the news-media made much of the

"opportunism" of Chandrashekhar. There was however no opportunism because after all both

Chandrashekhar and I were out of power in those days. By becoming friends, what,

compromise did we make? If political enemies become friends, why anyone should object. I

have made a rule in politics: never start a fight; but if someone starts it, never stop the fight tilleither the opponent gives up or is finished. Chandrashekhar had offered the hand of friendship,

so I made up with him.

Hegde remained un-reconciled to this merger because he understood what it meant. With Deve

Gowda joining us to form a foursome group of Chandrashekhar, Ajit, Gowda and myself, I felt

time had come to put Hegde in his place. I looked for an opportunity, which arrived when


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elements.

My report to the parliamentary board on telephone tapping finished Hegde. He had to resign

from the Chief Ministership, which he did after publicly shedding copious tears. Hegde's

resignation would have directly benefited Chandrashekhar in the long run, but for the rise of

V.P.Singh who had been expelled by the Congress party. With the Bofors scandal filling the

pages of the newspapers, V.P. Singh began to be projected as the next PM. People like Hegde,

seeing themselves blocked in the Janata Party began advocating the formation of a new party

under V.P.Singh's leadership. I tried to stop this formation, but suffered a setback when Ajit

Singh deserted us and joined with V.P.Singh. I could never understand how Ajit Singh could

give up the Presidentship of a party to become a General Secretary in V.P.Singh's Janata Dal

but Ajit was immature and inexperienced. This betrayal ( betrayal because Ajit Singh had

assured Chandrashekhar that he will remain with him and canvass for his Prime Ministership)

disheartened Chandrashekhar. Soon he too joined the Janata Dal. Therefore except for Deve

Gowda and myself, all others joined V.P.Singh. I became the President of the Janata Party and

Deve Gowda agreed to organize the Karnataka unit of the party. Gowda remained with me till

1992, but he too joined the Janata Dal. I thus became the only member of the Janata Party o

1977 who still remains in the party. It was lonely, but I went to seek the advice of

Paramacharya Sri Chandrashekhara Saraswati. He told me not to worry, and asked me to

rebuild the Janata Party even if it takes years. It is because of Paramacharya's blessings that I

have dared to keep the Janata Party alive and rebuild it even if it takes time.

After the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, the Janata Dal under V.P.Singh came to power in acoalition arrangement. Chandrashekhar was kept out the entire power structure and sidelined.

One day I found him sitting alone in the Central Hall of Parliament. I walked up to him and sat

by his side. He looked quite sad because he felt that V.P.Singh would divide politics of the

country by his advocacy of caste via the Mandal Commission Report. He said that while he

fully supported the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report, he felt that V.P.Singh


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On that note, Rajiv agreed. We also decided that we would meet everyday at 1 A.M! So every

day for six months of plotting to bring down the V.P.Singh government. I met Rajiv Gandhi at

10, Janpath from 1 AM to 3 AM. No one except George, his Secretary and occasionally Mrs.

Sonia Gandhi, was seen in the premises in those unearthly hours.

Rajiv Gandhi would sit with his computer in which the names of all the MPs, their bio data,

names of their friends, their allegiance to leaders, their weaknesses, etc. had been stored. So we

drew up a list of 76 MPs who were unhappy with V.P.Singh for some political reason or the

other, and could be recruited.

Thereafter we would everyday take up a list of 5-7 names and I would meet them during the

day and report back to Rajiv and his computer. Again at 1 AM Rajiv and I would meet and

discuss the prospects of which MP is likely to join and who might not.

Throughout this operation, Chandrashekhar did very little to help. The entire operation was a

Rajiv-Swamy managed show. This continuous meeting between me and Rajiv developed a bond between us. Therefore, when the operation was near completion, in end of October of

1990, and as per plan, Chandrashekhar was slated to take oath in the first week of November, I

got a call from Rajiv one day at 4 AM after I had gone to sleep. In his typically sweet and shy

voice, he said "Swamy, are you free to come now to see me. I will give some excellent coffee

and chocolates".

When I entered Rajiv's study room at 10, Janpath at 4.30 AM, he said in a soft voice, but fresh

as ever: "Swamy, I want you as PM, not Chandrashekhar" shocked by this, I said "Why at this

late stage? My party people are comfortable with you, but they don't like Chandrashekhar".

"Will the President (R.Venkataraman) agree to administer me the oath?" I asked, hoping to

discourage Rajiv at this change of heart.

"I will send R.K.Dhawan to the President with the proposal. He dare not refuse him," he said.

"Why?" I asked. Rajiv only smiled but refused to elaborate. "But, Rajiv," I went on ,"the 52


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MPs have agreed to come out of Janata Dal to make Chandrashekhar PM, not me". "Yes, but

now that they have come out, they cannot go back. You take oath, and they will fall in line".

Much as I would have loved to grab that chance to be PM, I knew it would not work. I would

earn the wrath of the 52 MPs who may fall in line, but they would despise me for cheating

them. My age was 50 years then, and suppose it became a fiasco? I would have to live in

disgrace. I was at that time too young to retire from politics but also too old to restart my

academic career in the University.

For sometime, I kept sipping coffee and eating chocolates. Then I told Rajiv, getting emotional

at his trust in me: "Rajiv, I shall never forget his honour, the faith you have in me. But it

is gone too far now to change Chandrashekhar." Let him be, and after one year it will be time

for the Presidential elections, at which time Chandrashekhar can become President and you

may become PM then. I shall work for it."

At 6 AM, a sleepy Rajiv relented. It will be difficult to work with Chandrashekhar. We willhave to go to the polls, but let us go through with the plan as it is for now." Thus most

reluctantly, Rajiv went through with the plan. But he did not turn up for the oath ceremony of

the Council of ministers. As usual, Chandrashekhar being the strong headed independent

minded person, he took into the Council of Ministers, Mrs.Menaka Gandhi and Sanjay Singh,

both disliked by Rajiv Gandhi. So Rajiv boycotted the oath ceremony in protest without any

warning.

After taking oath as a senior Minister, holding the portfolios of Commerce and Law & Justice.

I went to 10, Janpath to call on Rajiv and thank him. He received me warmly, and gave lot of

sweets to eat and celebrate.

Why did you not co me for the oath ceremony" I asked? "What for?. You said that the

Chandrashekhar government was a necessary transition from V.P.Singh's government to the

General Elections. I have done my duty as per my agreement with you. There is nothing to


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celebrate however" he said.

But it was clear that he was already angry with Chandrashekhar. Will the Government last even

one week? I wondered. When I next met Chandrashekhar, I urged him to meet Rajiv and clear

things up. Chandrashekhar was equally upset. "Do you think that for the PM's post, I will

prostrate before Rajiv?"

It was a miracle that Chandrashekhar lasted seven months because from day one, Rajiv and

Chandrashekhar were at logger heads. I can claim that had I not been in the middle,

Chandrashekhar government not only would not have come into being, but when it did, it

would not have lasted more than one week.

But as Prime Minister, Chandrashekhar was very good and decisive. Our government set many

things right.

After Chandrasekhar became Prime Minister, it became clear to me that it was only a question

of time before Rajiv Gandhi brought the Government down. I was keen that our Government

does not go out in disgrace without doing anything during the time it lasts though it may be

only few months.

The main plus about Chandrasekhar was his decisiveness. If he became convinced of

something, he would not be afraid of annoying anybody to do it. There fore I was hopeful that

the PM and I together would achieve something. In our system of Government, the Cabinet is

Supreme. This is widely known. But what is not widely known is the existence of a "superCabinet" called the cabinet committee on political affairs (CCPA), which consists of the PM,

Home Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister and any other Minister the PM

specially nominates. The intelligence services such as RAW, IB and Military Intelligence have

to give clearance for a Minister to become a member of this super Cabinet, because it is the

CCPA which reviews intelligence reports and not the full Cabinet.


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touched the Babri Masjid. This frightened the RSS so much that throughout the seven months

we were in office, the RSS never raised their voice again on the Babri Masjid issue. In the

meantime, we got a commitment from the Muslim organizations, that if it is proved by a

commission headed by a supreme court judge that there had been a temple demolished by

Babar to build the Babri Masjid over its foundations, they (the Muslims) would help Hindus to

remove it, because they then would not regard the structure as a masjid. But before we could

implement this compromise, our government fell. Even today, however that is the only solution

to the Babri Masjid controversy.

The dismissal of the Karunanidhi government was another tough decision. Many people even

today do the propaganda that the decision was taken under pressure from Rajiv Gandhi and

Ms.Jayalalitha, on whose parliamentary support our government was existing. The truth is

however far from it.

Although individual Congress leaders like Vazhapadi Ramamurthy were for dismissing the

Karunanidhi government, Rajiv Gandhi took the stand that it was for Chandrasekhar to take a

view, and whatever was decided by us, he would back us. There was therefore no pressure on

us from Congress as a party. As for Ms.Jayalalitha, she made her position known to us that she

was for dismissing the government. But by December end, she seemed to have lost hope that

we would do anything about it since the Tamilnadu assembly was being convened soon after,

and was to go on for two months. She and Sasikala soon left for Hyderabad and were there till

nearly the date of dismissal arrived. Therefore, she too put no real pressure on us.

The pressure came on us instead from IB reports which were alarming. According these

reports, the LTTE had built massive network in Tamilnadu. Warehouses in coastal areas of the

state, a highly modern communication system in Tiruchi, a grenade factory in Coimbatore, a

military uniform stitching factory in Erode and had financed STD booths and Photostat shops

all over. They owned petrol pumps through benamis across the state. The LTTE had also linked

up with PWG in Andhra and ULFA in Assam. Besides, the LTTE was liberally using cars


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bearing DMK flags so that the police had an excuse not to intercept them while in the travel

within the state.

When I paid visit to the state as a Minister in the last week of December 1990, police officers

met me in my hotel room in Madras to tell me that there were instructions "from above" that

the LTTE were Karunanidhi's mapillai (son -in-law) and hence not to be disturbed.

I have of course never liked the LTTE because of two reasons: They are Marxists and they are

terrorists. Therefore, the IB reports fuelled my determination to do something to save the

situation. I had no faith in Karunanidhi controlling the LTTE because basically he is not a

courageous person who can face them. Prior to 1987, Karunanidhi was a great supporter of the

TELO leader Sabaratnam, who was a hate-figure for Prabhakaran. But when Prabhakaran had

Sabaratnam killed, Karunanidhi's opposition to Prabhakaran immediately melts in fright, and

soon he began wooing the LTTE. In June 1986, Karunanidhi even offered the LTTE some

money from his birthday fund, which the LTTE publicly rejected. But Karunanidhi still

continued to cultivate the LTTE and the LTTE used its mappillai status to spread its influence.

So we could not expect Karunanidhi to show guts to oppose a Marxist-Terrorist organization.

Chandrashekhar and I used to meet everyday when we were in Delhi for dinner at his modest 3,

South Avenue Lane. Chandrashekhar used to use the PM's Race Course Residence to meet

visitors during the day, but at night we used to sit on the floor in his house allotted to him as a

MP, for dinner. He and I discussed practically every issue at these dinner meetings.

It was Chandrashekhar who suddenly one night said to me: "Is this Karunanidhi anti-national?"

Taken aback, I asked him why he wondered so. Chandrasekar said to me that when

Karunanidhi had come to see him recently, he had given him some sensitive details about the

LTTE operations, and also given certain confidential directions to him. "Only Karunanidhi and

I were in the room, when this conversation transpired, and yet today the intelligence people

brought me the transcript of the LTTE intercepted communications from Tamil Nadu to

Prabhakaran at Jaffna. In the LTTE transmission, there is a complete description of my


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confidential conversation with Karunanidhi. How would they know unless Karunanidhi told

them?"

Soon we held a CCPA meeting in which M.K.Narayan, the IB director was present. In that

meeting, we got full details of the LTTE machinations. I was surprised how the LTTE had

spread its net wide to include even G.K.Moopanar's close confident, P.V.Rajendran who is a

TMC MP today. LTTE cadres had made friends in the media, bureaucracy and even amongst

retired Supreme Court judges and foreign Secretaries, who went on foreign trips to do the

LTTE propaganda.

Today, that network in still intact despite Rajiv Gandhi's assassination. The way some

affidavits have been filed before the Jain Commission and the way cross-examinations have

taken place, has convinced some in the SIT of CBI that the proceedings of the Jain Commission

have benefited the LTTE in delaying or contesting the Rajiv Gandhi murder trial. The Jain

Commission Proceedings is helping the LTTE immensely by the wild accusations being made

in that forum.

It is then we decided that the DMK government should be dismissed and the LTTE network

destroyed, and in the CCPA adopted a decision to that effect. Many persons felt at that stage

that this would create sympathy for DMK, that it may spur a separatist movement, or that like

MGR's dismissal in 1980, the DMK may sweep back to power in the midterm polls. But to the

credit of Mr.Chandrashekhar, he did not waver, even after then Governor Surjit Singh Barnala

took a partisan stand. Barnala had agreed with the seriousness of the intelligence reports, but he

told us clearly that he was appointed by the V.P.Singh's National front government, so he

would remain loyal to them. We got over his objections since Article 356 of the Constitution

does not require the Governor's report. Barnala however promised us that he would not go back

to Tamil Nadu and campaign against our decision. He however broke his word and criticised

our decision. Here too Chandrashekhar did not hesitate. He got Barnala replaced by Bhisma

Narain Singh.


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But to our surprise, President Mr.R.Venkataraman developed cold feet. When the CCPA

recommendation went to him for his signature, he hesitated . Chandrashekhar asked me to go

and talk to the President, which I did. Venkataraman, despite his contrary media-cultivated

image, was the most undeserving person to become the President of India. His political career

was based on strategic betrayal of whoever came to trust him or repose faith in him e.g., Rajiv

Gandhi. At that moment when the national security was at state, Mr.Venkataraman's concern

was what would DMK volunteers do to his four houses in Kotturpuram in Chennai, and not the

safety of the Tamil people. But really, he had no alternative but to sign because it was a cabinetdecision based on extensive documentation. But to satisfy Mr.Venkataraman, we asked the

CRPF to keep an eye on his houses.

People at various levels had of course warned us that DMK volunteers would get violent, and

one civil servant said "rivers of blood would flow". Chandrashekhar asked me about this

possibility. I told him that every Collector knows and every police station has a list of rowdies

of the area. As soon as we take over, I said to the PM, ask the police or CRPF to ensure that

they make pre-emptive arrests of these rowdies. Party volunteers never riot, only hired rowdies:

Some of them can be party men, but in the eyes of the law, they are still rowdies.

On January 31st, 1991 that is exactly what happened. There was absolute peace in Tamil Nadu

after the dismissal of the DMK government. The LTTE hardware network was smashed in the

following two months, but the LTTE personnel just melted into the Tamil populace. But we

had saved Tamil Nadu even if later we could not save Rajiv Gandhi from his assassination.

While we were planning our moves in Tamil Nadu, Chandrashekhar one day called me up in

the secret RAX phone to say that unless we got $ 2 billion from abroad within a week, the

economy may collapse. He said I must use my influence in the USA to arrange it. Then he put

an impossible rider: if the money comes from IMF, we cannot accept any conditions.

When we first met as a government in November 1991, Chandrasekhar told the cabinet that

there was a great economic crisis particularly in petroleum and foreign exchange looming.


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IAF Boeing reserved for the PM was parked. As he climbed the stair case to alight the plane, I

told him when he returned, I would have a proposal on how to tackle the financial crisis. "To

hell with the Finance Ministership" I said to myself. "CCPA membership is more prestigious".

The foreign exchange crisis had been caused by the large number of short term loans (3 -5

years repayment) taken from Europe by the Rajiv Gandhi government (1985-89) mostly to pay

for defence equipment purchases abroad. These loans became due for repayment during

V.P.Singh's tenure as PM (who as finance Minister sanctioned it) but he slept over it. So when

we came to power it coincided with non-payment, plotting to declare India as a defaulter or

bankrupt. It was a Mexican type situation. We needed $ 2 billion to tide over this, and save our

reputation. We could, like Mexico, straight away have applied to the IMF for a "crisis loan",

but then the IMF would have strapped us, like Mexico, with humiliating conditions. When I

spoke to Rajiv Gandhi about this crisis, after returning from the airport, he said flatly that the

Congress party would not support any Mexican type conditionality. So our government was in

a fix: "No conditions, No loan from IMF; no loan, no economy!"

But I knew of one possible escape route. The IMF is dominated by the Americans, who control

87 percent of the voting power in the Executive Board of the IMF. Despite popular impressions

to the contrary, Americans are very simple people if you have a deal with them on a give and

take basis. If you want something from an American, offer him something in return which he

needs. Then he will respond fully. Americans in the past were irritated with us because we took

their aid, and yet voted against them in the UN. Americans are straight forward, contractual

minded people, whereas we are highly moralistic people who do not like to reveal our mind.Americans are much like me in character: blunt and open in thought, but a typical Indian is

more like Narasimha Rao: soft in words, but covert in action. So when Chandrasekhar returned

to Delhi, I received him at the airport, and told him of Rajiv Gandhi's refusal to support an IMF

conditions-prone loan. I then told him: "There is one way out. Ask the Americans to help. They

will help, if you offer them something in return". "What can be possibly given them that they

do not have already?" asked Chandrasekhar. I had no answer. I just kept quiet. Chandrasekhar


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said "We are running out of time. Think of something".

Soon after sometime, the opportunity came. The US Ambassador came to my Commerce

Ministry office to tell me that the US was planning to support a UN declaration of war on Iraq,

and US will conduct the operations. He said that the Indian government should support the war

effort of the US.

With IMF on my mind, I asked the Ambassador: "What will India get by doing so?" The

Ambassador was taken back. He said it was a moral imperative for the world, since Kuwait had

been crushed by Iraq's invasion. I laughed at the US ambassador. I told him "Listen Excellency,

ten years in the US as a student and as a professor has made me more American than you. You

keep your moral imperative, but give me a deal". I explained our problem to him. He was very

sympathetic. As I expected, he immediately responded. Thereafter President Bush and

Chandrasekhar were in touch with each other. The $ 2 billion arrived without any conditions!

We, of course allowed the US to refuel their planes flying in from Philiphines to Saudi Arabia.

Nowhere will it be recorded as a "deal", but the truth is this. In the history of the IMF, such a

large loan has never been given without conditions. Ours was the exception.

Of course once the loans came, the close associates of Chandrasekhar like Sinha and Morarka,

who were jealous of his growing trust in me naturally wanted to claim credit or thought that it

could have been done by them. In May-June 1991, when again the same crisis came, they saw

to it that I was not allowed to interfere. They soon found out what "credibility" and

"credentials" meant. Every government ignored our Finance Minister, and in the end, the

President Mr.Venkataraman and the Finance Minister (now BJP) Mr.Yashwant Sinha together

in one of the biggest undiscovered scandals of our history, mortgaged with European banks,

our gold reserves without informing the Commerce Ministry. I publicly protested, and even

threatened to register a criminal case for bypassing the Commerce Ministry. But by then,

elections were at hand and therefore I could not do anything. Someday I will reopen this. But

the resolution of the crisis in January 1991 generated tremendous confidence in


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Chandrasekhar's mind about my abilities. Soon for practically every problem, he was on the

phone consulting me.

In this atmosphere of confidence, I began pressing Chandrasekhar to abandon his traditional

socialist bias. I urged him to consider economic reform and liberalization. His economic

adviser was Dr.Manmohan Singh (later Finance Minister). I had known Manmohan Singh since

the days we were Professors of Economics. In those days, he was a leftist and against my ideas.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union made him come over to my views. So he gave me full

support.

Montek Ahluwalia, now Finance Secretary, was my Commerce Secretary. I had known him

since he was an economics student at Oxford. His wife was a student of economics at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) situated next to Harvard. With the help of

Ahluwalia and Manmohan Singh, I prepared a series of documents on economic liberalization.

At that stage, Dr.Manmohan Singh asked me: "Do you think that any government will

implement this?" Little did he realize that the next government of Narasimha Rao will have

Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister and the government will take all the credit for our

government's economic liberalization programme. The Congress party government did a

complete ideological somersault, and in broad daylight stole my economic liberalization blue

print. Chandrasekhar government was not long enough in office to implement this economic

package, but the nation has benefited by the Congress somersault and theft.

The granting by the Chandrasekhar government permission for US military planes to refuel in

Indian airports during the Gulf War suddenly transformed Prime minister Chandrasekhar's

image in the eyes of the Americans as a "good friend". This was the first time an Indian

government had helped the US. Naturally the prestigious newspaper like Washington Post,

New York Times began praising our government for its "decisiveness". During this period, I

had also in the GATT talks, bargained with the Americans for a formulation on agricultural

subsidies that pleased them; at the same time they helped us to protect our interests in textile


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exports. This was another great help to the US vis--vis Europe. So the American press began

portraying Chandrasekhar and myself as "able leaders", who can be trusted to be good friends.

This publicity internationally, pleased Chandrasekhar a great deal, but I warned him that he

would now have to be extra humble with Rajiv Gandhi, because the Nehru family was always

very sensitive to foreign publicity. They do not like to be upstaged internationally. I told

Chandrasekhar that some Congress leaders would now go to and tell Rajiv how if he continued

in office as PM, he would swallow up Congress Party, and that Rajiv would become an orphan.

At the same time, I told him (Chandrasekhar) that some flatterers would come and tell him how

popular he had become and that if he got rid of Rajiv's "crutches" and stood alone now, he

would, like Indira Gandhi in 1971, sweep the Lok Sabha polls. So these sycophants would urge

him to go for elections immediately. I also told Chandrasekhar that he should control his two

rootless Ministers whom I had nick-named as the "disco" group businessman, Mr.Kamal

Morarka and ex-bureaucrat turned Finance minister, Mr.Yashant Sinha. These two were talking

loosely, I said, to their girl friends in Delhi's Taj Hotel discotheques about Rajiv Gandhi,

boasting how they could control him by enforcement Directorate and Bofors Investigations.

These girl friends, mostly unmarried journalists or Rajya Sabha MPS, would in turn boast it to

people like P.Chidambaram (another disco fan), whose only job those days was to carry tales to

Rajiv Gandhi. Such tales would irritate Rajiv Gandhi no end, and made him think of

Chandrasekhar as an ungrateful person.

"Let us not forget" I said Chandrasekhar, "that it is 220 MPs of Rajiv Gandhi that is

underwriting the government. We need at least a year in government before people fully accept

us in our own right. Therefore today we cannot do without Rajiv Gandhi's help.

But Chandrasekhar's personality was not cut out for this role of humble partner. He could not

bear to hear some of his close associates taunt or tease him that he is "crawling" before Rajiv

Gandhi for the post. He told me one even in Feb, 1991: "Now that the Mandal fire is under

control and the Babri Masjid issue has been contained, why not go for elections?" Obviously,


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and soon enough there were angry words exchanged. Rajiv wanted Chandrasekhar to make

amends. The character of Chandrasekhar came out clearly in this conflict. He was not a person

to bend for a post to the point of humiliation, so he refused to make amends. This was his

strong point as well as weak point. As a leader of the government with absolute majority,

Chandrasekhar's unbending character would have made him a hero of people. But as a leader o

coalition, it made him a zero. Chandrasekhar was Janata Party President for 11 years (1977-88),

but he presided over his gradual liquidation. In the end, he quit and joined the Janata Dal led by

V.P.Singh. Why? Janata Party was founded as a coalition party, a merger of five parties.Chandrasekhar had no patience for the compromises necessary for a coalition. Had Janata Party

been built like other parties, brick by brick, and over 50 years, Chandrasekhar as its leader

would have flourished. Strong leaders cannot lead coalitions unless they know how either to

blackmail the partners into submission like Jyoti Basu does, or be a sweet gentleman. But

Chandrasekhar was a gentleman strong leader. That as Chanakya would have said is a sel

defeating combination. For a coalition, a leader should be either a gentleman or strong, but not

both.

After the Haryana constable issue, the government fell. Elections came. Rajiv Gandhi was

assassinated. Chandrasekhar felt truly sorry. So as a gentleman, he proposed in the cabinet that

Rajiv Gandhi should be given Bharat Ratna for his sacrifice. This did not mollify Rajiv Gandhi'

supporters. They demanded that the Government allot a Rajghat area for Rajiv Gandhi's

memorial. Chandrasekhar immediately agreed, and proposed that in the vast area for Indira

Gandhi's memorial called Shakti Sthal an enclosure be carved out to create a place for Rajiv

Gandhi. This infuriated Rajiv's followers. Even Sonia Gandhi was upset. They wanted Rajiv

Gandhi's memorial on its own merit, not as Indira Gandhi's son.

One day in late May 1991, a few days after the assassination, I got a call from Chandrasekhar

at 6 AM in the morning. He asked me to come right away. When I saw him at his residence, he

told me about the problems he was having with the Rajiv Gandhi memorial site. He told me

that the Government had offered to prepare a site out of the Shakthi Sthal, but Sonia Gandhi


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had refused, because she had wanted Rajiv Gandhi's memorial to have an independent identity.

I told Chandrasekhar that Sonia was right. After all, Rajiv had been PM for five years in his

own right.

But the problem Chandrasekhar told me was that Sonia was asking for a part of Lal Bahadur

Shastri's memorial area which was then a temporary CRPF camp. Not all of Shastri's Memorial

had been developed despite so many years. He said, "If you cannot carve out a memorial for

Rajiv from Shakti Sthal, I am not going to agree to carve it out from poor Lal Bahadur Shahtri's

area" "So what's the problem that I should come here so early in the morning?" I asked

Chandrasekhar, sensing that something else was on his mind.

"IB tells me that Sonia is going to go to public today, or ask for Doordarshan time, to condemn

our government for 'dishonouring' Rajiv memory. That should be prevented because so many

world leaders are arriving for the cremation and no site is ready" Chandrasekhar said. "Why

don't you talk to her directly?" I asked despite knowing the answer. Sonia was already bitter

with Chandrasekhar for forcing Rajiv to go to the polls, and so she was unlikely to come on the

phone to talk to him. "She is unavailable, every time I telephone her house" he said. "What can

I do now?" I asked.

"Amitabh Bachhan told me last night that if you talked to her, she might agree. She would talk

to no one else. Since she is so upset and in mourning" Chandrasekhar told me. "She will agree

to what, Chandrasekharji? What do I offer, and why should not we close down the CRPF camp

and shift it elsewhere? If it can be even temporarily partitioned for the CRPF, it can be

permanently set aside for Rajiv Gandhi" I retorted. "Except Lal Bahadur's memorial you have

the authority to take out any government land anywhere in India to offer it to Sonia for the

memorial. But don't try to force me on Lal Bahadur's site. I too have sentiments. I will not

agree, Chandrasekhar added belligerently, obviously hurt by the way the Rajiv loyalists were

behaving. I agreed to talk to Sonia, because I had no choice. If nothing else for Rajiv's sake.

Otherwise there would have been an International Scandal.


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political matter which newspapers will play up. It will spoil your good name" he said. "Politics

is my area, not yours. Call a press conference and I will announce my decision to the world" I

told him. "Why Sir?" asked an alarmed Law Secretary. Because if I don't, the Indian Express

will get a leak from the CBI, and then it will be big news. If I call a press conference, and

explain the basis, people will understand" I replied.

That is exactly what happened. Ajitabh case was withdrawn and even though the Indian

Express condemned it in an editorial, no one else agreed. Rajiv, Sonia and Amitabh were

naturally pleased. Amitabh had then asked to see me. I told him he could see me in Attorney

General G.Ramasamy's house. At GR's house, Amitabh told me that he would never forget my

help. "Rajiv's opinion that I had the courage of my conviction is amply proved", he said.

So when I telephoned Amitabh on that morning, after meeting Chandrasekhar he warmly

responded. He gave a special telephone number at which a mourning Sonia would be available.

He said she was expecting my call. But he warned me that she was going to insist on the CRPF

Shastri site.

I called Sonia and fixed a time to see her that afternoon. With the PM's authority, I called up

the Urban Development Minister Daulat Ram Saran and asked him to send the secretary of the

ministry with the entire blueprint of the Rajghat area for my study. After studying map for

empty spaces available, I selected one site, next to Shakthi Sthal, but not on it. It was a

dumping ground for coal ash of the Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU) and was fenced

by a wall from the Sakthi Sthal. It was filthy but it could be easily cleaned up.

While I drove to 10, Janpath to meet Sonia, I had only one question in my mind: how to protect

Chandrasekhar's sentiment or shall I say obduracy, on the CRPF site and at the same time make

Sonia agree to a new site, in this highly emotional climate. It was a very delicate mission for

me, with international consequences. But I had a trump card for success, which I did not tell

Chandrasekhar about. When I was taken to Sonia's room, there was besides her, Amitabh,


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Rahul and Priyanka. Sonia asked me to be seated.

I spread the map on the table and said:" Soniaji, you know how much I respected Rajiv. This

site I have selected, please accept. We will use the government funds to clean it up and make it

the best". At this, Priyanka flared up and said in a demanding tone: "Are you, or are you not

going to give the CRPF camp site for my father's memorial. Otherwise we dont want anything

from Government".

At this tone of voice, I was upset. I was a senior Cabinet minister and Priyanka was a college

girl. She had no right to talk to me like that. I had come to see her mother, not her.

Congressmen can be backbone less wonders, but not Subramanian Swamy even if he has to go

into the wilderness for it. In a raised voice, I thundered "No! We will not give that site. I will

pass such an order on the CRPF site that no future government can dare to overrule it".

There was an eerie silence for nearly a minute. Amitabh was feeling very uncomfortable. No

one spoke. Then Sonia said in a very soft voice: "why? Why not that site? With that question, Igot a chance to play my trump card. I said, "Soniaji, the only reason is that I want to respect

Rajiv's sentiment. When in 1987 Charan Singh died and was to be cremated ,his son Ajit and I

had asked Rajiv (as PM) for the same CRPF site for Chaudhary Saheb. He had declined. Rajiv

had explained to me then that already Shastri's memorial is much neglected, and if this site,

temporarily with the CRPF is given away , there will be much misunderstanding and adverse

publicity. He recorded this in the files of the Government. So to respect Rajiv's view, we cannot

give the site of your choice. But I have told the PM that this alternate site I have selected

should be offered for Rajiv Gandhi memorial and immediately developed.

After a few moments, Sonia agreed. I took it as recognition by her that I would not deliberately

try to give a bad site for Rajiv's memorial. Because I had so much regard for Rajiv which she

knew was mutually felt by Rajiv. I would she understood, select the best available site.

Priyanka was still angry, but Sonia restrained her from speaking anymore. "We will accept

because it has come form you" she said. The crisis was over. A site has been selected. When I


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informed the PM, he promptly announced it over Doordharsan, to set all the rumours afloat, at

rest. Had I not intervened, God only knows what would have happened. But for Rajiv's sake,

who I consider was the most patriotic and dynamic leader produced to date by the Nehru

family, and perhaps also the most underrated, it was God's grace that we found a way out.

chandrashekhar - my friend turned foe turned friend

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