CPI(M) loses its master tactician Surjeet
Sat, Aug 2 03:27 AM
Harkishen Singh Surjeet, the grand old man of Indian Communist movement and a master tactician who glued desperate regional parties to prop up coalition governments in the post-Indira Gandhi era, died on Friday following a respiratory cardiac arrest. He was 92.
One of the founding members of the CPI(M) and its general secretary for 13 years, Surjeet had been unwell for the past several months. His end came at 1.35 p.m. at the Metro Hospital in Noida where he was kept on life support for over a week.
As the news of his death broke out, Left leaders Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury rushed to the hospital. Somnath Chatterjee was also among those who visited the hospital around 3 p.m.
"Chatterjee and other Left members exchanged words and shared grief on the demise of the veteran Marxist," said sources.
At 8 Teen Murti Lane, the residence of the late leader, relatives and family friends came to offer their condolences to Surjeet's wife, elder son, daughter-in-law and grandson. Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the first dignitary to visit the grieving family at around 4:30 p.m.
Described as master tactician by his colleagues, Surjeet rose above his party when he exhibited his backroom skills and political acumen to bring non-Congress coalition governments at the Centre in 1989 and later in 1996, fragmenting the Indian polity which was till then a monopoly of the Congress.
By this, he also ensured that the BJP was kept away from power, thus becoming the uncrowned Prime Minister and kingmaker in Indian politics.
"Due to his efforts, non-Congress governments came up in the '90s. He was the architect of the 1989, 1996 and the 2004 Government of the UPA," recalled CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who took over the mantle from Surjeet three years ago.
Coming out of the CPI in 1964 over bitter Sino-Soviet differences to become one of the nine founding members of the first Politburo of the CPI(M), Surjeet steered the major Left party to strength in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union after he became its general secretary succeeding E M S Namboodiripad.
One of the very few members of the CPI(M) top brass to wear a religious symbol all his life, the turbaned sardar was a hardcore nationalist. His earthy attitude, his ability to share a joke and his congenial nature won him friends across the political spectrum.
These contacts came in handy when he became the CPI(M) general secretary in 1992 to establish a rapport with political leaders of all hues, which even drew the ire of apparatchiks in the party who accused him of diluting the ideological line
by joining hands with "bourgeois" parties.
He was often a magnet to non-Congress and non-BJP parties and this networking helped him prop up coalition governments led by V P Singh and Chandrasekhar and later the United Front Government headed by H D Deve Gowda and his successor I K Gujral.
( With ENS, Noida)
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