In Chandrashekhar's death, new tributes

JYOTI MALHOTRA

New Delhi, July 9, 2007 : Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress may have pulled the rug under Chandra Shekhar’s government in March 1991, but it is Sonia Gandhi’s Congress-led UPA which unanimously voted on Sunday evening to change the rules and allocate land for a memorial for the Socialist leader.

In a political signal to the Thakur lobby otherwise likely to be predisposed to Bhairon Singh Shekhawat in the forthcoming presidential election, the UPA government on Sunday decided to overturn a law passed by the previous BJP regime on awarding government land for memorials for political leaders.

This is the beautiful green stretch on Delhi’s outer ring road, which begins with Mahatma Gandhi’s `samadhi’ at Rajghat, followed by memorials to Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Thousands of people visit these sacred sites every day to pay homage to the dear departed.

But things had come to such a pass lately that a subtle hierarchy of state cremations had begun to emerge.

On Sunday, as the Cabinet met to pay homage to Chandra Shekhar, they at first offered his family land in Gurgaon to build a memorial. But Pankaj Singh, Chandra Shekhar’s eldest son, felt that that would be out of place and turned down the offer.

That’s when the Cabinet unanimously decided that Chandra Shekhar’s unique place in history indeed deserved a place among the greats on the Yamuna banks.

Former PM PV Narasimha Rao was clearly not that lucky. When he died, just under two years ago, the UPA government practically bullied Rao’s family to shift the state funeral to Hyderabad. Rao’s family had no choice but to agree.

Political analysts said the UPA’s mood on Sunday had lots to do with the impending presidential election, in which the Thakur lobby could play a key role.

It is well known that Chandra Shekhar and Shekhawat were very good personal friends, although Chandra Shekhar’s family sources told The Telegraph that when Sonia Gandhi came to request Chandra Shekhar a couple of months ago for support to the UPA’s presidential candidate, he reportedly agreed.

And so Chandra Shekhar’s state cremation, complete with gun salute, took place today in a green patch in front of where three former presidents, KR Narayanan, Shankar Dayal Sharma and Giani Zail Singh, were cremated next to each other.

ENDS