Rare bonhomie: RS wants Rajeev back

Cutting across party lines, Members of Rajya Sabha pleaded with the CPI (M) to renominate P Rajeev whose term has expired

Members of the Rajya Sabha cutting across party lines seeking a fresh term for P Rajeev who retired on April 21 after serving for a decade is not just rare, but is unprecedented.

The across-the-board camaraderie was palpable and among those who joined the request for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Member was the Leader of the House, Arun Jaitley. Poet-writer Javed Akhtar, not given to political ways because of his background, but by now familiar with the way things are thought and done, was right in his comment: "I have never seen such love and affection among members in the past.

"Joining in the plea, or at least praise of Rajeev for his outstanding performance in the House were Akali Dal’s Naresh Gujral, Mayawati (Bahujan Samaj Party) and former House Leader and Congressman Ghulam Nabi Azad.Azad called Rajeev "encylopaedia of rules." "I don't think any member made a better use of his iPad than Rajeev. The House gained so much from him. Wish he exchanges his iPad with mine."

Derek O'Brien belonging to Trinomial Congress, CPM's arch-rival in Bengal, joined the praise – and one hopes he does not earn the ire of his party chief leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Not surprising, a hardcore politician like Sharad Yadav (Janata Dal-United) commented: "Stranger things happen. Someone from Trinamool rises to bid farewell, by choice, to CPM leader. This is the beauty of parliamentary democracy." Yadav made the point about “beauty of parliamentary democracy” which, by hindsight, is but rare in the present times of acrimony and loss of mutual respect.

Some members requested Sitaram Yechury, the new CPM General Secretary and the first parliametarian to hold that post, to allow Rajeev a fresh term. He did not seem inclined. Rajeev's exit from the House will be a big loss to his party. "Rajeev has been given greater responsibility.He has been made party secretary of Ernakulam district which is politically very important. Kerala goes to polls next year.”And then came the jibe: “It is easy to call communists anarchists, but they do contribute to parliamentary democracy. They are the foot soldiers of secular democracy."

Jaitley asked, "What about the assurance to get him back?" Yechury said he respects the opinion of the House and will apprise his party of the same. Whether Yechury would do it, or can do it, is an internal matter, since the party, as all parties have, processes to be gone through. Repartee continued among two prominent Telugu members. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu and Yechury. "I used to admire those who fought communists. Even without knowing them I admired A K Antony, Vayalar Ravi, Saugata Roy and others for fighting communists. “

Of Rajeev, the minister said, “I was jealous of him and thought what is such a knowledgeable person doing in a communist party?" At this, Yechury said, "He is knowledgeable and humble therefore he is a communist."

The kind of bonhomie that was witnessed is special to the Rajya Sabha, not for nothing called the House of the Elders. Not being directly elected, and through the rough and tumble of seeking votes, and assured a full six year term since the Rajya Sabha is never dissolved, members tend to be more perceptive, and even generous. Excellent speeches are made and the debates are more in-depth, since the voting and victory margins are less crucial.

Rajeev is in the long line of members who stuck to their guns, through rules and procedures governing the House and not by their decibels. This is also because its members read.Parliament’s generally neglected and largely empty library would have more Rajya Sabha members than those of the Lok Sabha. A visit would show the likes of L K Advani and in earlier eras, Jaswant Singh, George Fernandes, Madhu Limaye, Piloo Modi, S N Mishra and numerous others. Indeed, many battles in Parliament evolved in the library.

Of the farewell speeches made when the members retire, one of the most memorable was one by Ladli Mohan Nigam, a socialist known for his humour mixed with perceptions. He never hid his unmarried status and would charmingly heap praise on lady members. “Thinking of their lovely presence, I shall spend the rest of my life,” he concluded. Sadly, he died a few months later.

By Mahendra Ved