In 2018, The Hindu’s deputy editor Sobhana K Nair knocked on former Rajya Sabha member Ram Vilas Paswan’s door for a comment on the arrest of an academic-activist in the Bhima Koregaon case. Paswan cringed when he heard the term “Urban Naxals”, said Nair during the launch of her recently published book, Ram Vilas Paswan: The Weathervane of Indian Politics, a biography of the politician.
During the brief interaction that she had with the veteran political leader from Bihar, he revealed to her what he thought about naxalism. “a bit of Naxalism is essential. Rights are not granted, they should be snatched,” Nair recalled Paswan telling her off the record.
Annoyed about losing out on a big story, Nair had jokingly threatened Paswan that one day she would write “all of it and more” in his biography. “He laughed and so did I. But the idea never left my mind,” she told the audience on 19 March at the Constitution Club of India, where her family and fellow journalists gathered to celebrate her book.
The book launch was followed by a panel discussion on the future of Bahujan politics in India. The panellists for the discussion were Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha, diplomat and author Pavan K Varma, and senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai. The event was also attended by deputy chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, Harivansh Narayan Singh.
The book covers Paswan’s political as well as personal journey through interviews with him, his family and those who knew him closely. During his tenure as a politician, Paswan worked under six prime ministers — VP Singh, HD Deve Gowda, Inder Kumar Gujral, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh, and Narendra Modi — a fact that was emphasised several times during the book launch.
“He is best remembered for being a man with his feet firmly on the ground and an unwavering commitment to empower the marginalised. This is his story and the story of the times that he lived in,” said Nair.
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Weathervane of Indian politics
As the conversation moved forward, the panellists discussed Paswan’s role in Indian politics and also the title that he was famously conferred: ‘weathervane of India Politics’.
Harivansh Narayan Singh quoted from Nair’s book, “Today if a Dalit leader strongly advocates for his community, he may not return to Parliament. So everyone makes compromises to keep everyone happy.” He added that over the years, Paswan went on to become “people’s need”.
Singh said that Paswan walked miles from his village in Khagaria district to Darbhanga to attend school. Before joining politics, he was appointed as the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Bihar in 1969. But Paswan knew that he needed to do more to make a difference. That’s why he joined politics. Paswan had a long career before he died at the age of 74 in October 2020.
“One of his last tweets was ‘sadak pe wahi janwar marta hai jo nirnay nai leta hai k dhaye jaye ya bhaye jaye (When an animal is indecisive about whether to move to right or left, he ends up dead on the road)’. Paswan ji was clear about his goals,” said Singh.
While discussing Bahujan politics, Varma said that he sees the movement failing today.
“Paswan was a sincere, genuine man who believed in Bahujan politics. But he could not carry forward the legacy of his own politics… Today Bahujan politics is largely in disarray. That is one of his failures,” he said.
Disagreeing with Varma, Jha said that Paswan, who wore shoes for the first time in his life when he was in 9th grade, and later organised his own political rallies, dared to speak against his own government when necessary. “Make no mistake, the idea of Bahujan politics shall never die,” he said.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)