What if Pramod Mahajan had lived? A new book says he wouldn’t have accepted subordination to Narendra Modi

What if Pramod Mahajan had lived? The senior BJP leader who was killed by his younger brother, Pravin, in April 2006 was a rising star in the BJP. A new book claims had Mahajan, 57 at the time of his death, had lived on, he would not have accepted subordination to Narendra Modi. In his book, Bombay After Ayodhya: A City in Flux (HarperCollins India), author-journalist Jitendra Dixit has presented several interesting revelations about Mahajan. Dixit, in a chapter titled Pramod Mahajan – The Man, His Murder and His Politics has reproduced an off the record conversation wherein some journalists questioned Mahajan about who could be the next face of the prime minister in post Atal Bihari Vajpayee-LK Advani era, to which Mahajan smiled and countered: ‘Who else is the option?’ In his autobiography, Majha Album, Pravin Mahajan, too, elaborated upon Mahajan’s ambition of becoming the Prime minister. Dixit has also corroborated that it was Mahajan who instigated prime minister Vajpayee to publicly taunt the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to follow the Rajdharma during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Among many BJP watchers and commentators, there is a near consensus of sorts that Pramod Mahajan was one of the most prominent faces of Indian politics in the 1990s. Some, like Dixit, firmly believe that Mahajan would have been a man of consequence in the present times had he been alive. He joined the RSS and became a worker of the BJP when relatively young. With excellent oratory, organisational and interpersonal skills, he swiftly rose in the party and was considered ahead of his contemporaries such as Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and others who entered politics through RSS or its affiliated groups. Mahajan was credited with meticulous planning and coordination of Advani’s Rath Yatra in 1990. In the later years, he grew close to Vajpayee as well. During Vajpayee’s tenure as the prime minister, Mahajan had become his one-point contact and closest aide, advisor, all rolled into one. Dixit has described Mahajan as an all-rounder in the game of politics. “He managed party events, made strategies for the party’s growth, contributed to image building of the BJP and arranged funds. He had an excellent analytical mind which he used for the party’s growth.” When the NDA was being formed in 1998, Mahajan spoke to Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, J Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu and N Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh within hours and with ease. He brought to the fold all those parties that considered the BJP ‘untouchable’ due to its Hindutva stance. [caption id=“attachment_11995862” align=“alignnone” width=“192”] Screenshot from Amazon.in[/caption] Mahajan networked with some of the top industrialists of the country and is attributed for introducing the five-star culture in the BJP, which displeased the RSS. The RSS opposed Mahajan’s extravagant ostentatious lifestyle and Mahajan disapproved of many RSS ideologies. In lighter vein, Mahajan, however, often ridiculed the RSS veterans by saying, “These old and unmarried people have nothing else to do in life. Hence, they keep arranging meetings.” In 2004, Mahajan was made in charge of the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign India Shining, which failed to bring BJP to the Centre again. However, had he been alive, Indian politics would have appeared different today. Mahajan’s biggest contribution was to stitch an alliance with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Mahajan was close to Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray more than any other leader in the BJP. Dixit says whenever any issue arose between the two parties and Thackeray expressed his displeasure, Mahajan knew the tactics to placate him. On Mahajan’s suggestion some senior BJP leaders like Vajpayee or Advani, often visited Thackeray’s bungalow Matosri after which his tempers cooled down. However, the situation changed when Uddhav started becoming powerful in the Shiv Sena. Uddhav realised Mahajan was taking undue advantage of Thackeray’s trust in him. Dixit reveals that it was Mahajan’s influence on Balasaheb Thackeray that had prevented the Shiv Sena from expanding the party beyond Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena was even successful in winning its first-ever MLA seat outside Maharashtra in Uttar Pradesh in early 1990s. “Thackeray needed to visit Uttar Pradesh and participate in rallies and public meetings. However, during the NDA rule at the Centre 1998-2004, whenever Thackeray contemplated going outside Maharashtra, Pramod Mahajan dissuaded him by citing inputs from the Intelligence Bureau that there was a threat to his life. The tour was cancelled immediately. Thackeray went to Uttar Pradesh twice only — once when he had to attend a court case over the Babri mosque demolition and then to attend a wedding in Subrat Rai Sahara’s family,” writes Dixit. Was dissuading Thackeray from touring out of Maharashtra a Mahajan ploy to limit the Shiv Sena’s expansion? Was it a trick to prevent the Shiv Sena from becoming BJP’s rival at the national level? Dixit’s books insist it was and perhaps a reason why Udhav disliked Mahajan. It was early morning on 22 April 2006 Mahajan’s younger brother Pravin had shot him. After shooting Pramod, Pravin walked into the Worli police station with the pistol and surrendered. Giving a graphic account of the sequence of events, Dixit has narrated the shocking incident, “That morning around 7.30 am, Pravin reached Pramod’s living room when the latter was engrossed in reading a newspaper. Pramod’s wife Rekha and servant Harish, who were also present in the room till then, went to the kitchen to prepare tea for them. Pravin wanted to talk to Pramod, but while he spoke, Pramod didn’t acknowledge his presence and continued to be engrossed in the newspaper. In a spur of the moment, an enraged Pravin took out his licensed F.N. Browning 0.32 bore pistol and fired three shots at Pramod’s abdomen.” After injuring Pramod, Pravin straightaway went to the nearby Worli police station and surrendered. His confession left the officers numb, and they took a while to decide their response. Meanwhile, Pramod Mahajan was rushed to the PN Hinduja Hospital by his brother-in-law and a senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde who stayed in the same building. On his way to the hospital, a conscious Mahajan asked Munde, ‘Mi kaay chook keli Pravin ne mala marla?’ (What was my mistake that Pravin shot me?) “Soon, he lost consciousness. The bullets had damaged his liver and pancreas. A police team reached the hospital to record Pramod’s statement, but the doctors informed them of his precarious situation. After battling for his life for 12 days, Pramod finally gave up and was declared dead at 4.10 pm on May 3, 2006. His last words to Munde were taken as his dying declaration. Despite getting the best medical treatment available in the country, he couldn’t be saved. Pramod Mahajan’s death marked an end of an era in the BJP history.” Amid many conspiracy theories and some absurd allegations, Pravin was eventually convicted for Pramod’s murder in 2007 and was awarded life imprisonment. Two years later, he published his autobiography Majha Album, which reflects his hatred for Pramod and his acrimonious hostile views towards other relatives like Mahajan’s brother-in-law Gopinath Munde. On 3 March 2010, Pravin died in a Thane hospital owing to brain haemorrhage. He had come out of jail on parole. Except his elder brother Prakash, nobody from the Munde-Mahajan family attended the funeral. The Mahajan saga ended with so many unanswered questions, poignancy and disquiet. The writer 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 are personal. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.