Opposite poles show intense pull

Warmth nurtured during youth can work wonders. Two bigwigs of Himachal Pradesh politics, who have occupied diametrically opposite poles through four decades of career saw the spirit of alumni reunion coming alive recently.

The alumni meeting of Himachal Pradesh university at summer hill auditorium brought BJP national president and CPIM (M) MLA Rakesh Singha face to face.

   

The  ideological commitments of RSS and Communism just melted away as the two stepped back into their student-life of the 1970s. Reaffirmation of bonds in current scenario could be described as a wonderful reunion.

Nadda changed the narrative when he talked about ‘Political Tolerance’ which was heading towards extinction  with the passage of time. The august gathering of alumni included justices of high court, Speaker Vidhan Sabha and politicians of various parties.

It was an undiluted reaffirmation of faith, mutual respect and personal bonds which took precedence over political rivalry, a rare happening in current times when hatred and rancour has afflicted the society at large.        

The scenes at HP University have provided fresh breath to the well-established tenets of democracy in the country. The spontaneous display of old ties by Nadda and Singha touched everyone’s heart.

Some well-meaning people in the audience said the dire need of the hour was to make efforts to sustain such an atmosphere and protect social fabric.

Nadda was nostalgic when he went down memory lane of his long, arduous journey from grassroots worker of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to the president of BJP,  its political offspring.

Nadda’s ascent from a HP University students’ union leader to the working president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in June, 2019 when the party had flourished in majority of the states and decimated the Opposition in the  parliamentary polls, had turned the meeting of old guards as special and significant. Nadda’s references to his old friend Singha emanated from students days in hostel when latter used to taunt him to loan him only four to five RSS workers to bring revolution on the campus.

But Nadda mentioned about his retaliation to this offer by saying that he would tell his friend that RSS workers will disappoint him as they would bring peace and not revolution hence he needed to change the mindset. Singha’s party dominated the campus at that time and ABVP was gradually in student politics in Himachal university.

Similarly, Nadda had fond memories of his association with other student leaders like Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the then NSUI leader etc. which created a homogeneous atmosphere on the campus.

Singha also remembered the soft-spoken and humble Nadda which made him different. And, those qualities have been preserved by the BJP leader.    

Nadda praised the university students and teachers for preserving its special feature of tolerance and brotherhood which made it different from other institutions in the country.

Human face of Nadda was on full display when  he visited the sweet shop of 86 year old Nathu Ram and took blessings by touching his feet.

Nathu Ram was emotional when he talked about gentle behavior of Nadda and credited him for taking care of friends and supporters. Nadda had recalled in his speech that his father, a professor in Patna university, used to send him five hundred rupees which was a big amount during those days and first debt payment of Rs one hundred was made to Nathu Ramji so that our borrowing could continue for another thirty days.

(KS.TOMAR is a national columnist)

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.

The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

eight + 18 =