After Kalmadi gets clean chit: Congress leaders, aides raise decibel level to reinstate Suresh Kalmadi with dignity

“Now that Suresh Kalmadi has been cleared of all charges, first by CBI and now by the ED, the Congress party I feel should take him back in the party… He should be given the prime position in the party which he deserves… Right from the beginning, I had always maintained that Kalmadi would do no wrong and my stand has been vindicated,” Ramesh Iyer, who is the general secretary of the Pune city Congress, told The Indian Express.

Iyer is vocal, but many in the city Congress privately agree that the party  had wronged Kalmadi when he was suspended from the party in 2011. The MP was in jail for nine months post his arrest before being released on bail. The Congress party, which was facing the massive anti-corruption movement launched by activist Anna Hazare and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had found it hard to defend the party whose proximity to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was well known. In fact Kalmadi, did not only rule the Congress Party in Pune but was also the last word in Pune’s politics before his fall from grace.

As the octogenarian leader keeps mostly away from politics and the public eye, his supporters mince no words – although such words were few and far between in the last 10 years.  Babu Nair, who is the state general secretary of the party, said, “Now we expect that the party will bring Kalmadi back honourably and give him the status he deserves. His image had taken a beating and now he deserves full respect as he served the party to be the best of his abilities.”

Manoj Bhore, a close aide of Kalmadi’s, blamed the party for falling prey to the media trial. “There was no reason for the party to go against its own leader, who was known for his high credentials and good contacts with all the political parties. The Congress  dug its own grave in Maharashtra,” he said.

Sachin Adekar, a cOngress party worker, and few other supporters distributed sweets and burst crackers outside Kalmadi’s house after the news broke of the ED’s clean chit to him. “We could not meet our leader due to his bad health but we hope to meet him soon,” said Adekar, the supporters chanted slogans in support of Kalmadi.

Even BJP leaders credited Kalmadi for playing a big role in ensuring the Congress’s sway in Pune and even in the development of the city. ”When the charges were levelled against Suresh Kalmadi, the Congress, instead of backing its own leader, sent him to jail. The party should have backed him, which it failed to do. Kalmadi was a dynamic and powerful leader who played an important role both on the political terrain and development front,” said BJP spokesperson Sandeep Khardekar.

A former pilot of the Indian Air Force, Kalmadi started his career from Youth Congress in the early 70s. While he could not win his first electoral battle in 1977, his connections with political leaders saw his rise in rank in his party. Kalmadi shared good equations with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and had sided with him when the latter had left Congress. When Pawar returned to Congress, Kalmadi entered his best years in politics with the party. His proximity with Gandhi saw him win the Pune Lok Sabha seat in the early 1990s. Kalmadi had the city in his grip. He started the Pune Marathon as well as the Pune festival.  ”Be it in holding the National Games or Commonwealth Games, they all happened because Kalmadi was the central figure. The Balewadi stadium which came up during his tenure saw bigtime sports events,” said Iyer.

Congress leader said Kalmadi was not a man who would wait for central and state government funds to organise events. ”He was close to top industrial houses like the Bajajs, Firodias and several others. They would come running to sponsor the event if Kalmadi was at the helm. Such was the rapport of Kalmadi with industry icons. Kalmadi would even spend money from his pockets,” said Iyer.

Though he was mostly busy with national politics, he had a firm grip on local politics. “It was Kalmadi who through meticulous selections and campaigning helped the party win the 1992 PMC elections. For the next 20 years, he ensured that the Congress grip did not loosen,” said Iyer.

State Congress vice-president Mohan Joshi said that the ED’s closure report proved that the power-hungry BJP was behind destroying Kalmadi’s political career. “It was during the tenure of Kalmadi that Pune witnessed true development. The BJP wanted to finish him off so they made corruption allegations. It might be late, but truth has prevailed,” said Joshi.

On Monday, a Delhi court accepted the ED’s closure report in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, the former head of the 2010 Commonwealth Games organising committee, and others. This has brought an end to the money laundering angle in the alleged scam, which triggered a massive political uproar during the Congress-led UPA government. However, he faces another corruption case linked to the CWG Games, in which the CBI has accused him of irregularities in awarding a contract to a Swiss firm, allegedly causing a loss of more than `90 crore to the exchequer. In this case, he was arrested on April 24, 2011 and, nine months later, granted bail by the Delhi High Court.  “It was not possible for any newcomer with no political background to reach such heights in politics and it was only the capabilities of Kalmadi that led to his growth,” said a Congress leader.