Vice-President dies a broken man

In the gloom which gripped the establishment today following the death of Vice-President Krishan Kant in his sleep early this morning, there...

In the gloom which gripped the establishment today following the death of Vice-President Krishan Kant in his sleep early this morning, there was no escaping the fact that the last month was perhaps the most trying for the 75-year-old political veteran.

For two hours on June 8, he was virtually the President-elect: Prime Minister A B Vajpayee had conveyed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi that he had cleared his name for the Presidential polls. He also had a message sent to Kant that his name was through.

KRISHAN KANT 1927-2002

Krishan Kant’s 97-year-old mother, sitting beside his body, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Anil Sharma

Congratulatory notes began to pour in at Kant’s 6, Maulana Azad Road residence. Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar—who with Kant was one of the Young Turks in Indira Gandhi’s Congress—was there to felicitate him. Parkash Singh Badal rang up from Chandigarh.

But as he almost touched the finishing line, the line itself disappeared. At the last minute, the Big Four—L K Advani, George Fernandes, Pramod Mahajan, and Jaswant Singh—overruled Vajpayee and put their weight behind P C Alexander. It’s another matter that Alexander, too, did not make it, and the NDA then pulled out A P J Abdul Kalam.

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So Kalam’s swearing-in ceremony on Thursday must have been particularly stressful for the Vice-President, who had translated the new President’s speech in Hindi.

Friends whom he met over the last few days say that Kant was hurt by the recent turn of events. What bothered him was not only missing the highest office, but that he should be insulted in the way he was. However, he told friends that he was well aware of the ups-and-downs in politics—an indication perhaps that he was slowly coming to terms with the rejection.

Mohan Dharia, Kant’s Young Turk colleague, told The Sunday Express in Pune today that he had met the Vice-President last Tuesday. And during a 45-minute conversation, he realised that the Presidential issue had ‘‘deeply hurt’’ him. He was ‘‘absolutely certain’’ that he would be President, Dharia said, and never thought that he would be let down.

Dharia said the Vice-President had sought his advice on several matters, including his post-retirement plans. And that he had suggested to Kant that he set up a ‘‘training centre for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs’’ in New Delhi.

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As chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Kant had been impartial and non-partisan in his conduct, and tried to take everyone along. In all of his 50 years of public life, there were no charges against him. As Governor of Andhra Pradesh, he adhered to what was constitutionally correct.

There was immense irony in the fact that the Cabinet after his death should pass a resolution, lauding his contribution to public life right from his ‘‘patriotism’’ at the age of 15. Kant’s 97-year-old mother, who all her life has spun the charkha every day and made her own khadi, cradled his head, sitting beside his body, the tears rolling down her cheeks.