Book Review | Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics

Ram Vilas Paswan, the weathervane of Indian politics who served as a union cabinet minister in the Modi government until his death in October 2020, was opposed to the idea of linking ‘Hindutva’ with Indian culture. He would often argue inside and outside parliament about how a nation cannot and should not have a religion.

A ‘Hindu Nation’, which he claimed the BJP was projecting, simply must not be allowed to be erected. “Fire and water do not have any religion. They cannot be either Hindu or Muslim. In the same way, the nation is neither Hindu nor Muslim,” Paswan told Lok Sabha in 1998, when he was a union minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government.

In a first and full-length, definitive biography of Paswan titled Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics [Roli Books], The Hindu’s Deputy Editor Sobhana K Nair has given multiple glimpses of a man who defied Kanshi Ram and Mayawati to remain as a dalit icon. Paswan, for the most part of his political life, remained on the right side of the ruling coalition to earn the nickname mausam vaigyanik or the weathervane of Indian politics.

More from Opinion

How India-Israel ties go far beyond Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ India-EU trade deal: Europe’s bet to hedge a Trumpian world order

However, Paswan, while courting and siding with the Hindu right, did not compromise on the core of his socialist ideas and secularism. Sobhana quotes Paswan in the very first floor test that the Vajpayee government faced in Parliament after their victory in the February 1998 general elections, when he had voted against the BJP government. Paswan had said, “Hindutva cannot be linked with Indian culture, and when they talk of Indian culture and Hindu nation, one thing only I would like to say is that fire and water do not have any religion. They cannot be either Hindu or Muslim. In the same way, the nation is neither Hindu nor Muslim. The moment we link the nation with Hindutva, then we cannot deny the word ‘Khalistan’ or ‘Islamic.’”

According to Sobhana, Paswan’s argument was simple. A nation cannot and should not have a religion. A ‘Hindu Nation’ that the BJP has been projecting was not feasible.

However, like a good weathervane, Paswan joined the Vajpayee ministry in 1999 after extracting a promise that contentious issues such as the Uniform Civil Code, Article 370, and the Ram Temple would not be taken up.

Paswan, who prided himself on winning Lok Sabha elections by huge margins, has only had two stints in the Rajya Sabha. And each time, Sobhana rightly points out, he served the upper house at the pleasure of others. His first stint was in July 2010, a year after his embarrassing defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD lent his support to bring him back to Parliament. The second time was on the strength of Nitish’s party, Janata Dal (United), and he returned to the upper house for his last parliamentary stint. Till his death, he remained bitter about the treatment meted out by Nitish and often lamented in private about the mortification he was made to suffer.

Quick Reads

View All

Discovering Rann: Festivals, heritage and cultural treasures

India-EU trade deal: Europe’s bet to hedge a Trumpian world order

Sobhana leans on Paswan’s son Chirag to recreate the sequence of events of his last battle with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the Rajya Sabha seat. “It was the morning hour on 21 June 2019, the last day to file nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections, as per the notified poll schedule, and father and son were headed to Patna for completing the paperwork. They were at the airport when BJP President JP Nadda phoned. ‘Please speak to Nitish before you file the nomination papers,’ Nadda directed. Why now? Father and son wondered. Just a few months ago, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the three allies—the BJP, JD (U), and Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party—locked down the seat-sharing formula, which included a cabinet berth for the senior Paswan. It was a done deal. Why were they being sent back to haggle once more? The Paswans asked, but Nadda didn’t say anything substantial. He was only the messenger,” writes Sobhana in her engaging and engrossing manner.

The message was clear: Nitish Kumar was the gatekeeper, and without paying obeisance to him, Paswan wouldn’t be able to get to the Rajya Sabha. Instead of becoming a prisoner of ego, Paswan called Nitish from the airport, but the chief minister, junior to Paswan in both age and political experience, was curt and brief. “You have already spoken to BJP, then why do you need me at all?” Sobhana quotes Nitish Kumar as saying, as if reminding Paswan, how the two often found themselves on the same side of the political spectrum, but they continued to have a deep disdain for each other. Nitish’s laconic style was in stark contrast to Paswan’s flamboyance. Paswan disliked Nitish’s ambition and arrogance, while Nitish spoke of him disparagingly, not considering him as his political equal, records Sobhana even-handedly.

Next, Chirag and Ram Bilas Paswan duo spent an uneasy ninety minutes on the Delhi-Patna flight. They were supposed to go directly to the Vidhan Sabha to file nominations. Instead, they took a detour to the Chief Minister’s bungalow at Aney Marg in Patna to mollify him.

Paswan’s LJP had only two MLAs, and this made the JD (U) votes essential for Paswan to win the Rajya Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar had to be placated, and it was equally important that the press should not get a whiff of the differences between the JD (U) and LJP. At least not before the Rajya Sabha elections were through.

Presenting a graphic and accurate sequence of events, Sobhana writes how Paswan senior pleaded Nitish Kumar to accompany him to the assembly where he was headed to file the nomination. But Nitish remained unmoved. “You talk to BJP; you don’t think we matter. They will vote for you,” Nitish told Paswan brusquely. Paswan in his usual conciliatory style, kept saying, “Chaliye, jo ho gaya ho gaya. Chaliye rehne dijiye.” (Come, let it be.) As an observant reporter, Sobhana recalls how Paswan began speaking in half sentences—touching Nitish’s knee, smiling, pleading, cajoling, and coaxing. “Chirag sat there stoically next to his father, watching this discomfiting interaction. ‘Aap chaliye, hum dekhte hai,’ Nitish said at the end. (You go ahead, I will see.) The Paswan duo left the Chief Minister’s bungalow, still unsure of JD (U)’s support. At the Bihar assembly, the Paswans and the accompanying LJP MPs had to wait for more than two hours before Nitish turned up. The story was out.” Sobhana describes these events as a thriller of sorts.

The Patna press had a field day writing about how Nitish Kumar kept the Paswans on tenterhooks. As if the humiliation of it all was not enough, Nitish refused to hide behind the veneer of politeness. “Go and ask Paswan. Did he win the Rajya Sabha seat with just two MLAs?”

Sobhana’s Ram Vilas Paswan, the Weathervane of Indian Politics is a significant book on several counts. She needs to be complimented for recording and producing a definitive biography of a man who was loved, admired, and quoted by Lutyens’ Delhi media but virtually elapsed after his death. Reduced to a footnote of contemporary history, Sobhana brings Paswan persona to present us with a consummate politician who loved trappings of power but without losing sight of peace, harmony, and justice in society. At another level, she has tried to salvage the image of Lutyens’ Delhi media, which is often accused of forgetting the work and contributions of the likes of Paswan, Sitaram Kesri, Sharad Yadav, and others with upper caste condescension.

The reviewer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including ‘24 Akbar Road’ and ‘Sonia: A Biography’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._

Read all the  Latest News,  Trending News,  Cricket News,  Bollywood News,
India News and  Entertainment News here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.