A politician admired & respected across party lines
Obituary | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (1923-2010)
THE COUNTRY’S 11th vice-president, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who died in Jaipur on Saturday at the age of 87, may have had his political affiliation to the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yet, despite his ideology, he was a politician who was respected and admired by many across the political spectrum.
With his ability to make friends in various parties, Shekhawat, who came from a small village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district, was often referred to as Ajatshatru or “Bhairon Baba”. Apart from making friends with those belonging to different political ideologies, Shekhawat also played a seminal role in building first the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later the Bhartiya Janata Party along with Atal Behari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani.
His beginnings though were humble. He had to drop out of school after his father passed away and joined the police in order to help support the family comprising eight siblings. He rose to the rank of sub-inspector but then decided to quit the police force. He won his first election in 1952, becoming an MLA in Rajasthan after winning the Danta-Ramgarh seat.
It was to mark the beginning of a long and distinguished political career spanning over five decades culminating in him being elected vice-president in 2002. He often credited his political success to destiny and the “magic” of democracy.
Perhaps the only setback during an otherwise distinguished political career came when Shekhawat decided to throw his hat in the ring for the presidential polls in 2007. He was then the vice-president and had indicated his willingness to take a shot at the President’s post when he had remarked to inquisitive journalists, “Age is no bar for me.” Sadly, the contest was marked by some amount of acrimony and Shekhawat lost the polls to Pratibha Patil who became President.
During his long political stint, not only did Shekhawat thrice become the chief minister of Rajasthan, but he also won all but one Assembly poll beginning in 1952. The only time he lost the Assembly election was in 1972 when he was defeated while contesting from Gandhi Nagar in Jaipur.
As CM, he is credited with launching the Antyodaya Scheme which was a success and prompted the then World Bank chief, Robert McNamara, to hail Shekhawat as the Rockefeller of India.
Unusually for a politician from Rajasthan, he also was a critic of the practice of “sati” prevalent in his state. This, despite his stand not being “politically correct” and other politicians from Rajasthan reluctant to condemn the barbarian practice. He reached out to the Muslim community in his state, getting a state waqf authority set up in Rajasthan, and ensuring that the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was renovated.
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