Thursday Post

Today I am writing about an old Congressman who was sidelined by  Indira Gandhi, when she was forcing her way to become Congress’s big boss .He remained with old Congress leaders when she broke the Congress in 1969. History will know him as a controversial figure, but also recognises him as first  PM from  non congress party, as the Congress in which he was member(known as Congress O) merged with Janata Party in 1977. He is

Morarji Desai

 He was staunch Gandhian, independent activist, freedom fighter.

Before the independence he was Home Minister of Bombay State and after independence , he became CM in 1952. The Bombay state then was a bilingual state with home for both Marathi & Gujarati speaking population. In the mid fifties agitations started for separate states for Gujarati & Marathi speaking people, after the state recogination committee proposed that the states to re aligned on linguistic basis. Both Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti and agitators for separate Gujarat wanted Bombay to be included in their state. Morarji then  proposed let Mumbai remain a Union territory, which was shot down by other Congress leaders including PM Nehru. Morarji Desai even ordered firing on Samyukta Maharashta Samiti members, in which 105 protestors died at Flora Fountain in south Bombay. In the end Bombay became capital of Maharashtra, and later Flora Fountain was named as Hutatma Chowk in the memory of 105  martyrs.

Later he was moved to Centre, as Home Minister in Nehru’s cabinet. Being a staunch Gandhian he was socially conservative, pro business  and in favour of reforms as against Nehru’s socialistic policies. Although he was odds with Nehru and his allies, but he was  always a serious contender for PM’s post after Nehru. But after Nehru’s death in 1964, he was bypassed by Congress leadership  for the Post of PM, which went to Lal Bahadur Shastri.

After Shastri’s death in 1966, he was again bypassed by Congress Leadership for Indira Gandhi as PM. He became deputy PM and finance minister in Indira’s cabinet. In 1969, Indira Gandhi withdrew finance portfolio from him, and as a result he resigned from the cabinet. In the same year Congress Party split as Congress Ruling and Congress Organisation, and he remained with Congrees O. The next General election saw Indira Gandhi victorious, and Congress O sidelined.

He participated in indefinite hunger strike in March 1975, in support of Guarat Nav nirman movement. In June 1975 Emergency was proclaimed, and how Janata party was formed & Morarji became PM  is well known, and it need not to be described .

After taking oath as PM, he started working on the improvement of relations with China & Pakistan. Diplomatic relations were restored with China, which were not there after 1962 war with China. His govt undid many constitutional amendments which earlier Indira govt has passed, and made it so difficult for future govt to impose internal emergency. The main problem for Morarji to run govt was, internal party factions wrangling and controversy. With JP out of action because of his ill health, there was no party leadership of the coalition . The rival group started trying to oust Morarji as PM.

Morarji Desai had described  the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, as the Praetorian guard of Indira Gandhi and had promised to stop all activities of the R&AW after becoming prime minister. He closed down much of the agency, and reduced its budget and operations

In 1979 some members of the Janata Party with left leaning like Madhu Limaye, Krishan Kant and George Fernandes started propagating that no member of Janata Party could simultaneously be member of an alternative social or political organization. By this they were pointing out to members of Janata party who came from Jan Sangh, as these members continued to hold their membership of RSS ie Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.  Jan Sangh members did not agree to it and threatened to withdraw support to govt. But in the mean time Charan Singh & Raj Narain with their supporters pulled out of the Govt, and Morarji resigned as PM. He campaigned for Janata Party Candidates in 1980 elections, but he himself did not contest, and after the defeat of Janata party in elections , he retired from politics, and started staying in Mumbai (then Bombay) with his only son.

Morarji Desai was a strict follower of Gandhian principles and moralist. He was vegetarian by birth and by his conviction. He was staunch supporter of Urine therapy and  himself practised the same.

Desai was the only Indian national to be conferred with Pakistan’s highest civilian award, Nishan E Pakistan, which was conferred on him by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in 1990 in a colorful ceremony.  He was also awarded Bharat Ratna in 1991

He died in 1995 at the age  of  99.

Awaiting your comments/feed backs/views on this blog

Anil Malik

Mumbai,India

3rd Jan 2019