First-person singular

Subramanian Swamy has been widely acknowledged as a 8220;maverick,8221; which in literal termsrefers to unbranded cattle that which has no master or claimant. Swamy inherited the Janata Party, the first non-Congress political group to rule India, with some clever paper work and with a little help from from his friend, the then Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan. While the party was declared defunct by most political observers, Swamy has had the nerve and verve to keep himself and the party afloat much to the discomfort of the political class. He has popped up with amazing alacrity over the years to terrorise and vandalise his victims. His trump card is the well-documented 8220;dossiers8221; he has on key political figures which he does not hesitate to use.

His vanity and cocksureness comes from the singular fact that he believes he is the best and that he is a man of destiny. He does not doubt for a moment that one day he will be prime minister. 8220;Swamy never fails to remind you he is brilliant, disciplined, hard working, determined and most importantly, spotless 8212; there are no allegations of graftand corruption against him 8212; all this has convinced him that he is a desirable candidate to run the country,8221; admits a friend.

The irrepressible Janata Party leader burst into the Indian political scene in the early Seventies when he was proudly exhibited by the Jana Sangh as a prize catch. Swamy holds a doctorate in economics from Harvard University, he taught there and rose to the rank of professor at the young age of 26. He worked for his thesis under Nobel laureates Simon Kuznets and Paul A. Samuelson. To top it all, this Harvard professor wore a rich dhoti and kurta with aplomb.

Swamy8217;s pathological dislike for socialists he fell out with his colleagues in IIT, his first job in India when he returned, whom he accused of being enslaved by communism endeared him to the Sangh, who readily invited him to give a swadeshi orientation to their economic programme and, to explain the need for production of nuclear bombs.

Swamy8217;s contempt for Vajpayee goes back to his Jana Sangh dayswhen he clashed with the senior leader for his 8220;foraging8221; ways. Swamy publicly deplored Vajpayee8217;s weakness for the good things in life and accused him of being a hypocrite. His relentless campaign against Vajpayee went on for months leaving the present PM and the Sangh deeply embarrassed. However, he actively campaigned for the Jan Sangh in the election to the UP Assembly in 1974, and was rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat.

Swamy became a public hero when, during the Emergency, as the most wanted political leader, he mocked Indira Gandhi8217;s iron machinery, by appearing in the Rajya Sabha to sign the attendance register, and disappearing again, without a trace. His signature was crucial as his long absence from Parliament would have cost him his Rajya Sabha membership.

After the Janata Party disintegrated, Swamy realised the key to survival, was to remain in public focus and media limelight. He chose unlikely targets and flung wild and crazy charges at them. Former Karnataka Chief Minister and presentCommerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde was felled by Swamy8217;s inscrutable campaign against him. Allegations swung from Swiss bank accounts to personal attacks 8212; Hegde was forced to resign because of a telephone tapping scam which was leaked by Swamy and friends, former prime ministers Chandra Shekhar and H.D. Deve Gowda. Hegde was hounded again when he joined V.P. Singh at the Centre. Swamy filed a PIL against him saying as a sitting MLA, Hegde could not hold an office of profit. Singh had appointed him as Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission.

Swamy8217;s on-off friendship with Chandra Shekhar paid off richly when, together with the former PM, and industrialist and now Rajya Sabha MP Jayant Malhoutra, the trio plotted to overthrow V.P. Singh and install Chandra Shekhar as prime minister. The plan, which was hatched in Malhoutra8217;s luxury suite at the Ashok Hotel, in the Capital, brought in Swamy as Minister of Law and Commerce in the short-lived Government. While Swamy was soon estranged from Malhoutra, hehad gained another friend through the industrialist 8212; the guru of all swamys 8212; tantrik Chandraswami.

Displaying unflinching solidarity with the cunning tantrik Swamy was Chandraswami8217;s lawyer, Subramanian Swamy got a godfather in former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. He was made chairperson of the Commission for Labour Standards in the Commerce Ministry and was given Cabinet rank. It is another matter that the Commerce Minister himself enjoyed Minister of State status.Typically, the restless Swamy set out for the kill again. This time his victim was none other than the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalitha. After months of relentless, brutal, pursuit, an almost weeping Jayalalitha called him over and asked him why he was hounding her. According to sources, that meeting convinced Swamy that Jayalalitha was the wronged woman and, the rest needs no repetition.

As Jayalalitha8217;s one-man demolition squad, Swamy has persistently sent the BJP-led coalition Government into a tailspin, inthe last 13 months. In his vengeful mission to topple the Vajpayee Government, Swamy has preyed on the vulnerabilities of the two women he believes are the key players in the present drama after convincing Jayalalitha that the BJP is a treacherous party she finally saw it for herself when the BJP pulled her alliance partners away last August, he set out to convince Sonia Gandhi that she could get a majority in Parliament only by aligning with the AIADMK. Whether Swamy will be able to pull off his latest coup remains to be seen, but he will certainly go down in Indian parliamentary history as the maverick who played his part to perfection.