05-03-2006, 11:02 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Rest in peace </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Pramod Mahajan, a true leader ---- Whenever he was buffeted by a political storm, and there were many in the two-and-a-half decades that Pramod Mahajan spent in the BJP, he would resolutely battle on, refusing to accept defeat. Indeed, numerous are the occasions when he snatched victory for the BJP from the jaws of defeat and loss, on the electoral battlefield and while negotiating alliances. Yet, on Wednesday he lost the last battle of his life after valiantly fighting death for 12 days in the intensive care unit of a Mumbai hospital.
It's almost as if he was destined to lose this battle against the grim reaper. It's a tragic and cruel end to a promising career as a politician; those who knew him personally, will feel the painful loss of a friend who would always be there when you needed him most. For the BJP, Pramod Mahajan's death has come as a body blow: The party will be bereft of his organisational skills and his ability to transcend party lines to acquire friends and allies without which perhaps the National Democratic Alliance would never have been born, nor would the BJP ever have come to power in Maharashtra.
His critics would often berate him for being a 'pragmatist' but Pramod Mahajan wore his pragmatism on his sleeves, just as he wore his ideological commitment as a badge of honour. His loyalty to the BJP was absolute and beyond reproach; the party was his sole passion. Over the years he made the BJP into a modern political machinery with the help of both technology and a forward-looking agenda in tune with the aspirations of 21st century India. He truly represented the BJP's gen-next leadership, brimming with ideas to catch the popular imagination - Mr LK Advani's hugely successful Ram rath yatra of 1990 that catapulted him and the BJP into the centrestage of national politics was master-minded by Pramod Mahajan - and to keep in tune with changing ground realities and voter preferences.
The 2004 election campaign may have not fetched victory for the BJP, but it would be grossly unfair and wholly incorrect to blame Pramod Mahajan's visionary use of new technology and media to connect with the masses. When he spoke at public meetings, he effortlessly connected with the youth who saw him as one of them rather than a 56-year-old politician seeking votes. As a spokesman, he was articulate and media savvy, yet he never promoted himself over his party, a trait not shared by many of his colleagues.
Equally at ease among unwashed masses and India's powerful movers and shakers, he never allowed himself to be carried away either by adulation or craven sycophancy. His earnestness while addressing a rally or answering a mediaperson's query was not a politician's act, but the manifestation of his unshakeable faith in India and its indigenous abilities.
When the sun sets on Thursday, the country would have bid farewell to an illustrious son of the soil who rose from his humble origins to dizzying heights of power, thus proving that conventional disadvantages can be overcome through grit and determination. The BJP would be clearly hobbled by his absence, but that is not how Pramod Mahajan would have wanted it. The party organisation, as he would often say, should be such that individuals cease to matter. But the void left by individuals is not easy to fill. Pramod Mahajan will be missed - by the country, by the BJP, by his friends and by his family. May his soul rest in peace.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Pramod Mahajan, a true leader ---- Whenever he was buffeted by a political storm, and there were many in the two-and-a-half decades that Pramod Mahajan spent in the BJP, he would resolutely battle on, refusing to accept defeat. Indeed, numerous are the occasions when he snatched victory for the BJP from the jaws of defeat and loss, on the electoral battlefield and while negotiating alliances. Yet, on Wednesday he lost the last battle of his life after valiantly fighting death for 12 days in the intensive care unit of a Mumbai hospital.
It's almost as if he was destined to lose this battle against the grim reaper. It's a tragic and cruel end to a promising career as a politician; those who knew him personally, will feel the painful loss of a friend who would always be there when you needed him most. For the BJP, Pramod Mahajan's death has come as a body blow: The party will be bereft of his organisational skills and his ability to transcend party lines to acquire friends and allies without which perhaps the National Democratic Alliance would never have been born, nor would the BJP ever have come to power in Maharashtra.
His critics would often berate him for being a 'pragmatist' but Pramod Mahajan wore his pragmatism on his sleeves, just as he wore his ideological commitment as a badge of honour. His loyalty to the BJP was absolute and beyond reproach; the party was his sole passion. Over the years he made the BJP into a modern political machinery with the help of both technology and a forward-looking agenda in tune with the aspirations of 21st century India. He truly represented the BJP's gen-next leadership, brimming with ideas to catch the popular imagination - Mr LK Advani's hugely successful Ram rath yatra of 1990 that catapulted him and the BJP into the centrestage of national politics was master-minded by Pramod Mahajan - and to keep in tune with changing ground realities and voter preferences.
The 2004 election campaign may have not fetched victory for the BJP, but it would be grossly unfair and wholly incorrect to blame Pramod Mahajan's visionary use of new technology and media to connect with the masses. When he spoke at public meetings, he effortlessly connected with the youth who saw him as one of them rather than a 56-year-old politician seeking votes. As a spokesman, he was articulate and media savvy, yet he never promoted himself over his party, a trait not shared by many of his colleagues.
Equally at ease among unwashed masses and India's powerful movers and shakers, he never allowed himself to be carried away either by adulation or craven sycophancy. His earnestness while addressing a rally or answering a mediaperson's query was not a politician's act, but the manifestation of his unshakeable faith in India and its indigenous abilities.
When the sun sets on Thursday, the country would have bid farewell to an illustrious son of the soil who rose from his humble origins to dizzying heights of power, thus proving that conventional disadvantages can be overcome through grit and determination. The BJP would be clearly hobbled by his absence, but that is not how Pramod Mahajan would have wanted it. The party organisation, as he would often say, should be such that individuals cease to matter. But the void left by individuals is not easy to fill. Pramod Mahajan will be missed - by the country, by the BJP, by his friends and by his family. May his soul rest in peace.
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