Even in death, he managed to obliterate political faultlines – at least for a few moments.
NEW DELHI: Even in death, he managed to obliterate political faultlines – at least for a few moments.
A galaxy of top politicos, friends and foes, huddled together on Sunday at Nigambodh Ghat Crematorium here to bid adieu to Marxist veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who died on Friday.
As his body lay on the funeral pyre, Surjeet did something he could not in his lifetime.
The quintessential “secular coalition” man brought Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leaders Mulayam and Amar Singh, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, politburo member Sitaram Yechury, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and JDS boss Deve Gowda, CPI general secretary AB Bardhan and many others together to mourn his departure.
What surprised the onlookers was the warmth between Sonia and Mayawati in the midst of their ongoing bitter political slugfest and their respective parties walking into enemy camps.
While Sonia and Mayawati drew maximum attention of the politicos assembled in a
specially-erected shamiana near an elevated VVIP pyre, in contrast, Mulayam and Amar sat at a distance ignored by the crowd.
Sonia’s new-found allies did not speak to her while leaving the cremation ground.
Mayawati was initially seated at a distance from her. But after paying floral tributes to Surjeet, she did not return to her previous seat but sat near Sonia and started talking to her. Both leaders were seated together for about 15 minutes. A little later, Deve Gowda too joined them, occupying the seat next to Mayawati.
Even as Amar Singh, the erstwhile gatecrasher at 10, Janpath, sat reminiscing the day Surjeet took him to Sonia’s party uninvited, Mayawati was cosying up to the Congress president as if the trust vote was a bad dream. Not that Sonia ignored the SP leaders, they simply did not have eye contact.
After the pyre was lit, Sonia was the first to leave, soon Mayawati followed suit. Sonia, who walked briskly towards the exit lane, saw Mayawati as she turned back and paused for a while for her to catch up. Soon, both were walking together and talking.
Surjeet’s death also provided Mayawati an opportunity to come closer to the CPI(M) honchos. She visited Surjeet’s residence on Saturday to offer condolences to his widow, visited the party headquarters at AKG Bhavan on Sunday morning where the body was kept for about five hours for the public. And at 4.30 pm, she was at the crematorium.
Mulayam and Amar Singh, BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Shiv Shankar Prasad, Union ministers and foreign envoys also visited AKG Bhavan to offer floral tributes to the departed leader.
The politicos used the solemn occasion to catch up with their allies. Prakash Karat, who wished almost everyone, was seen chatting with Chandrababu Nadu in a corner after Sonia, Mayawati, Mulayam and Amar Singh left. Later, Yechury joined them.
Befitting his role as architect of the UPA government, Surjeet was given a state funeral. His elder son Paramjeet lit the funeral pyre. His mortal remains wrapped in red flags were consigned to the flames amidst slogans of ‘Lal salam’ and ‘Long live comrade, Surjeet’.
Before the funeral pyre was lit, Delhi Police personnel fired 21 shots in the air as a mark of respect to the departed leader and played the band. Ninety-two party volunteers (to mark Surjeet’s age) sporting red shirts lined up the venue near the pyre.
Vice-president Hamid Ansari, home minister Shivraj Patil and railway minister Lalu Prasad were among the first to reach his residence.
k_benedict@dnaindia.net
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