Bal Thackeray – ‘Balasaheb’

Balasaheb Thackeray started his career as a cartoonist in the Free press journal in Mumbai in the early 1950s. His cartoons were also published in the Sunday editions of The Times of India.

He formed the Shiv Sena on 19^th June 1966. The party was formed to protect the interests of Maharashtrians and ensure job security for them as a priority. Bal Thackeray believed strongly in what he preached and eventually managed to capture the imagination of the average Maharashtrian youth staying in the state.

Coupled with his sharp wit and great oratory skills, Thackeray always managed to get a rapt attention from his listeners. Aggressive wordplay, threatening comments and use of derogatory words is the USP of any Bal Thackeray speech. This managed to help him garner a huge support in a very short period of time. Using the south Indian migrant issue, the Shiv Sena had managed to get a foot hold in the Maharashtra political steps.

Bal Thackeray was an active support of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Chalval or the United Maharashtra movement. Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena were an integral part of the MES movement.

By the late 1980s, Shiv Sena had become a dominant party in the state’s politics. Meanwhile, Balasaheb, as his party workers started calling him, had turned his towards the issue of Hindutva. He later joined forces with the BJP and the VHP. Shiv Sena workers were also a part of the rampaging mobs that butchered hundreds of people throughout the riot. Balasaheb was even arrested in 1999 for a case was made against him for making inflammatory speeches. After which he was banned from casting his vote and making inflammatory speeches.

In 1995, the Shiv Sena – BJP came to power, however, as it stood then and as it stands now, the remote control of the government was in total control of Balasaheb himself.

Bal Thackeray’s views have always drew flak from all the liberals, Bal Thackeray had denounced the Muslim community and alleged that Muslims are not the original inhabitants of the country and hence only Hindus, who are the original inhabitants should get the actual priority in terms of jobs and educational opportunities.

Bal Thackeray is also infamous for praise for Hitler. Balasaheb believes that although Hitler’s methods were not fair, but he was wonderful organizer and orator. He also felt that India too needed a dictator.

In some ways the votes of the elite and the approval of the elite always eluded bal Thackeray, however, those were never his direct followers. His aim was to attract the average Maharashtrian who worked daily but could reap the benefits of his daily strife because of the lethargic government machinery or the overload that the state was bearing because of the influx of outsiders into the state.

Today, however due to his ailing health Bal Thackeray is disassociated from active politics , but has his son Uddhav taking the reins of the Shiv Sena in his hand. In recent years due to these two factors many have left the Shiv Sena to other parties or to other areas, These include Narayan Rane, who has now joined the Congress and Balasaheb’s nephew Raj Thackeray, who separated from the Shiv Sena over differences with Uddhav on the running of the party.

Whatever may be the truth today, but the fact remains that ten years ago Bal Thackeray had mustered up enough strength through the success of his party that not only did he have the remote control for the state government in his hand but also had the potential to have the remote control of the center in his hand as well.

Sonia Gandhi – ‘Madam’

Forbes magazine named Sonia Gandhi, the 4^th most powerful woman in the world. This was just after the Lok Sabha elections held then, which the Congress managed to win after years of life in the opposition. Much of the credit then was attributed towards Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia, managed to single handedly turn the tables on an all conquering opposition who had dreams of a shining India in their minds.

She is currently the President of The Indian National Congress party and Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha. Born and brought up in a town called Orbassano, Sonia later moved to the city of Cambridge where she met Rajiv Gandhi, who was enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. The two went on to marry each other and had two kids, Rahul and Priyanka.

Rajiv and Sonia stayed away from politics and preferred to keep a low profile away from the bright lights of the political world. However as destiny would have it, Rajiv entered politics after Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv’s younger brother passed away in a plane crash. This was later followed by the assassination of Rajiv’s mother Indira. Rajiv then was elected Prime Minister. This was Sonia’s first official step in the political life of India, as the wife of a Prime Minister.

However, her world came crashing down, when Rajiv too was assassinated. She was later asked to become Prime Minister, however she out rightly refused it. What followed was a decade of dwindling fortunes for the Congress. They lost the elections in 1996 and kept spiraling downwards. Infighting in the party too was another reason for the party’s misfortunes. This prompted Sonia to enter politics. She was then made President of the Congress Party. She then contested lok Sabha election and managed to win quite easily. She later was elected as the Leader of Opposition, when the BJP led government under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power.

What followed after that was the era of Sonia Gandhi in India politics, wherein the Gandhian way of politics made a re-appearance in Indian politics with a bang. On the back of Sonia’s Gandhi card, Congress managed to come back to power. This was followed by weeks of requesting and pressuring of Sonia to take up the prime minister ship. However, she refused to heed into the ‘Janatas’ demands and remained the President of the Congress party, nominating Dr, Manmohan Singh as the next Prime Minister.

The Congress has since managed to stay in power for over two decades. Sonia Gandhi still takes the main decisions of the party, however with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi both in the fray now and both actively participating in the day to day politics of the country, the era of the new Gandhi generation is round the corner, with Rahul taking control of major party decisions and handling the youth congress party.

She has also been instrumental in supporting PM Manmohan Singh in facilitating the Lok Sabha approval of the Indo-US nuclear deal. She has also been instrumental in introducing various schemes that were initiated to help in the overall development of the country.

Sonia Gandhi has truly come a long way now, from being labeled an ‘Italian lady of foreign birth’ to being called the ‘The most powerful Indian woman in the world’.

Omar Abdullah – 'Youth Icon'

“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian, and I see no distinction between the two. I don't know why I should fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor—poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice….”

- Omar Abdullah, July 22nd, 2008, Lok Sabha –

This quote which made Omar Abdullah a household name, captured many youths of this country towards in a big way, including me. The statement was made in Lok Sabha during the trust motion to gauge the support for the Indo-US nuclear deal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV4xjF1iDPw&feature=related

After a lot of rabble rousing and the usual commotion that usually ensues in Parliament, It was Omar Abdullah’s turn to speak during the question hour. What followed was one of the most passionate speeches I have ever heard. The speech later became an internet sensation, catapulting Abdullah to a politician to watch out for.

Omar Abdullah started his life learning Commerce as a student in Mumbai’s Sydenham College, rising from there to becoming the Chief Minister of India’s most volatile state in the country.

Abdullah is the grandson of Sheikh Abdullah, founder of Kashmir’s first political party, the Muslim Conference, in 1942. This party was later renamed as the National Conference. Sheikh Abdullah was the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir till the early 1950s, after which he stayed the Chief Minister of J&K for another two terms, till his death in 1982. Farooq Abdullah became the Chief Minister of J&K after that for tree terms.

Omar entered active politics in 1998. He was elected as a Lok Sabha member and also became the youngest Union Minister of India as the Minister of State for External Affairs. He later left this post in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government, preferring to concentrate on his Party issues in Kashmir. In 2008, the National Conference managed to win the maximum number of seats in the state assembly elections and formed the government with the Congress as the ally. Omar Abdullah was then nominated as the new Chief Minister.

However, recently due to the on-going violence in the state, Omar had to face a lot of flak from the opposition and the people in his state as well. He was even accused of being part of a sex trade scandal as well as accused of trying to cover up the rape and murder of two girls in Shophian. However, he managed to prove that he was innocent in all cases. Omar was also discredited for letting army personnel loose on a group of unarmed protestors. He has also been criticized for allowing the violence in the valley to spiral out of control.

However, on a broader scale, Omar has managed to work for the people earnestly, the trait which has catapulted him today in becoming a 'Youth Icon' in the minds of millions of youngsters in India and around the World.

Sharad Pawar – ‘Saheb’

Arguably the richest politician in India, Sharad Pawar was born on 12^th December 1940, popularly known as ‘Saheb’. An old Congressman at heart, Pawar formed his own party the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1999 after differences cropped up between him and the Congress.

As a politician Pawar has always been a popular leader, He has been a standing MP from Baramati for over a decade, he finally vacated this constituency to accommodate his daughter Supriya Sule and moved to Madha to contest the elections. This unbending popularity that Pawar enjoys has helped him earn a prominent place in national politics as well as the regional politics of Maharashtra.

Pawar started his political career from Baramati, becoming an MLA from the region and working his way up the hierarchy of the Maharashtra Congress, ultimately becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He slowly made his way up the political ladder. He became the blue eyed boy of the Rajiv Gandhi government in the late 1980s, he was then that Pawar was inducted as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra. This was primarily done to mitigate the Shiv Sena which had just found its steps and was building a base in the state.

However, in the late nineties, after it was declared that Sonia Gandhi would be the face of the Congress, Pawar along with former Lok Sabha speaker P.A. Sangma decided to form their own party as they felt that the Congress needed to portray an image, wherein only an Indian face would suffice. They named their party, Nationalist Congress Party. However, over a period of time, the Congress and the NCP mutually decided to come together in their attempt to keep a right wing party like BJP away from power.

Ever since, Pawar has been a stalwart in the politics of the state as well as at the center. He has been the Defence Minister, Union Agricultural Minister and the Minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution along his upward spiral.

Pawar has been lauded as the ‘Man of the Farmers’ for over two decades now, his popularity in the rural areas of the state is tremendous, helping him obtain a sizeable voter base. In areas like Pune, Satara and Marathwada has become a bastion for the NCP. The credit for which has entirely been bestowed upon Pawar for his able and astute leadership.

Other than politics, Pawar has been the President of many Sporting bodies; these include The Mumbai Cricket Association, Maharshtra Wretling association, Maharashtra kabbadi Association, Maharashtra Kho Kho Association and the Maharashtra Olympics Association. Other than these he has been the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India and is the current President of the International Cricket council.

Pawar has however, had to face a lot of criticisms over the last three decades, allegations ranging from corruption to money laundering and to the latest allegation of giving cricket priority over his duty as the Union Agriculture Minister.

‘Saheb’, as his party workers call him, has managed to put all that away and has today created an image where he is respected and treated as a father figure and has his sights set on becoming the next Prime Minister of India.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee – ‘Vikas Purush’

The only Bachelor Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was born on the 25^th of December 1924. He is also referred to as the ‘Bhishma Pitama’ of Indian politics.

Mr. Vajpayee became the 11^th Prime Minister of India in 1996, after being part of the shortest government formed. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) became the single-largest political party in the Lok Sabha elections held in 1996, Vajpayee was elected Prime Minister, however could not gather enough support from the other parties to form a majority and had to eventually resign after just 13 days.

Since his childhood days, Vajpayee was a man of conviction and great determination. He has a master’s degree in political science from Victoria College (now Laxmibai College) and DAV College, Kanpur. He is also a celebrated poet with even a book of poetry to his credit. Vajpayee, who was once a journalist, learnt his way around the political way of living early in life. This was one of the reasons which helped him fight back his opponents and come back to power in 1998.

This tenure too was not an easy and to add a long one either. His second term lasted ironically for 13 months exactly. Vajpayee had managed to build a cohesive bloc of political parties lined p with him, however, the AIADMK led by J.Jayalalitha withdrew its support from the coalition after being 13 months in power. The government was dissolved after this and the country was sent back to elections. Till then Vajpayee was the ‘Care-taker’ Prime Minister.

During this tenure of 13 months Vajpayee had to face many hurdles as an administrator as well as a leader. The nuclear bomb tests at Pokhran and the subsequent diplomatic turmoil were handled by him with tact and vigour. The aggressive posturing of Pakistan after the tests and Pakistan’s tests after that was also an important turn of events for Vajpayee to handle.

His peace visit to Pakistan in late 1998 was seen as a magnanimous gesture on Indian Prime Minister’s part. The resultant Lahore Declaration espoused a commitment to dialogue, expanded trade relations and the goal of denuclearized South Asia, and mutual friendship. However all of this was mitigated during the Kargil war in 1999, this many believe was one of the toughest phases for any of India’s 14 Prime Ministers till date.

In those 3-4 moths, Vajpayee had to walk on a tight rope. He had to motivate the troops and keep the atmosphere in the country upbeat and at the same time keep India diplomatically relevant during and even after the war. India went on to win the war and managed to recapture what had fallen into enemy hands and still managed to keep the war limited to the Kargil region and avoided opening all the borders and turn the it into a full fledged war. This decision on India’s part was met with positive reaction from around world. This and the nuclear tests will always be counted as Vajpayee’s biggest accomplishments as a leader on the world scale.

His work is not just restricted to the global scene; the work carried forward during his tenure in terms of domestic infrastructure is also noteworthy. In 2001 he initiated the ‘Sarwa Shikhsha Abhiyan’ and is also the brains behind the golden triangle project, which was aimed at connecting every major city of India by a highway system matching global standards.

However, India also had to face a few setbacks during Vajpayee’s tenure. The IC-814 hijacking and the subsequent release of Maulana Masood Azhar was one such incident. The parliament attack in 2001 and the following standoff between India and Pakistan was another important setback.

Vajpayee later retired from active politics in 2005 and since been living out his old age peacefully with his family.

Such leaders come once in a while and the true importance of their ability and their work is only felt in the years that follow. However, the fickle mind of any human being might forget the work a man has done. Therefore it is important for us to keep our political inclinations aside and respect leaders who have done substantial work for the country and celebrate them as role models for the future generations.