Personal, political: Rajnath’s losses

‘‘I refused,’’ Singh tells The Sunday Express. ‘‘I wanted to concentrate on the state.’’

But Mahajan was persistent. He requested party strongman Sunder Singh Bhandari to intervene; one call from him saw Singh joining Mahajan as his sole general secretary.

The roles reversed four months ago. Soon after Singh pipped other second-generation leaders to become BJP president with RSS backing, Mahajan came to him. ‘‘Notwithstanding the fact that he was senior to me both in age and in party work, he told me, ‘I want to work with you as a general secretary’,’’ remembers Singh. ‘‘I was overwhelmed because it is difficult for one to do it—after all, I had served as BJYM general secretary under him.’’

It wasn’t just lip-service: Both men worked hard to be at ease. One evening, Singh recalls, he drove up to Mahajan’s 7, Safdarjung Road residence unannounced. Mahajan received him warmly, but told him, ‘‘Adhyakshji, please don’t embarrass me with this kind of departure from protocol. Do send for me whenever you need my counsel.’’

Subsequently, Mahajan would ensure he never left a meeting venue before Singh; rather, he’d insist on walking Singh to his car.

What had been their relationship like in the interregnum, between BJYM and 2006? Singh is quite forthright: ‘‘I normally maintain good relations with people, but there has never been any trouble (‘‘gadbad’’) with two senior colleagues: Pramodji and Sushmaji (Swaraj).’’

But there must have been moments when they at least felt distant from each other? ‘‘Yes, twice,’’ Singh recounts. ‘‘Once, when he became the key player in Mayawati’s installation as chief minister. I protested. His defence was that he was only doing what he’d been told to do.

‘‘Second, when, as UP chief minister, I did not seek his help during elections. He felt slighted because he thought I did not consider him worth it. He even complained to me later.’’

Mahajan’s talents as a fund-raiser has given rise to numerous rumours after his death. Singh considers it ‘‘sad,’’ emphasising that the former had not collected any money for the party in the recent past, not even for Assam (assembly polls), where he was in charge.

While Singh would be the first to reiterate that no one’s indispensable, it’s as indisputable that without Mahajan, Singh is lonelier and weaker. There’s no cause for him to worry as long as the RSS is behind him, but the pressure to deliver just increased manifold.