He was the first Chief Minister of an Indian state, who was an IITan. But, besides his academic achievements, his work efficiency and clean image as a leader, had earned him respect among the people of this country. For the new generation, he was a perfect role model, for being the honest and committed chief minister and Defence Minister with a vision. Keeping a low profile, he believed in corruption free administration and travelled without security, unlike some of his counterparts in India. In his home state Goa, he lived in his own house and had converted his official CM’s residence into his office. He did not believe in spending public money over security and travel. When he was required to fly, he used regular airlines instead of chartered flights and travelled in Economy class. Indeed, Manohar Parrikar was a perfect role model for the new generation.
I first met Mr. Parrikar, when GeneratioNext, a social organisation of intellectuals from Mumbai had organized a forum titled ‘Changing the face of Politics!’ on one Saturday evening sometime in in 2013 at Swatantryaveer Savarkar Auditorium, Dadar, when our family friend Sanjay Hedge introduced me to him. I hardly spoke to him for five minutes, but that was enough to know his simplicity and honesty. And, during this event, this simple but efficient administrator of this small BJP ruled state, was more than happy to address the capacity packed audience. Speaking in both Marathi and English, he was frank enough to admit some weaknesses of few of his party workers, but openly said that his party did not accept characterless people, like the Congress party did. And that’s the reason, he had joined this party. We all know that later he was invited at the Centre, when BJP came to power and was handed over the most important portfolio of Defence Ministry.
During this particular event, which I attended, he had Openly admitted that he was proud to be an original RSS man, having been inspired by the teachings and discipline of Mr. Hegdewar. “The Sangh Parivar always worked towards national interest and as per their teachings, National interest came first, besides respecting other religions,” he had stated. While describing his comeback to power, he had then said that the people in Goa needed a change. They were fed up with previous Congress rule. During elections, the Congress party had spent more than 200 Crores. What our party spent, was almost 1/10th of their budget and that too managing the funds through thousands of well wishers, instead of few sponsors,” he had added.
Mr. Parrikar had also cited some of the examples of Good Governance and avoided personal comments on individuals. “If the leader sets an example with austerity measures, others in the team will follow. When I took over as CM, first thing I did was to reduce my security persons and started traveling by Economy class, when required to travel by air. I followed this practice, because since my childhood, I have been practising it. When we noticed that Girl child ratio was coming down in our state, I introduced incentive schemes for girls in Goa. Every girl, after attaining 18 years of age, found Rs. 1 lakh deposited into her Bank account. So, by the time of her marriage, she found a sizable Rs. 1.25 to 1.50 lakhs into the kitty,” he had stated .
But, Parrikar didn’t seem to be power hungry, after having proved that ‘money is not power’. “After completing my five year term as CM, I don’t intend to contest elections. I would prefer to work for the party and do farming instead,” he had made very clear. Like Anil Kapoor in popular film ‘Nayak’, he had made all efforts to clean up the system, setting a good example of clean administration.
After the talk show, Mr. Parrikar was surrounded by well wishers from among the elite audience, who wished him all success in his mission. Every question he answered was received with big applause. Those present on the occasion that day were BJP leaders Ram Naik, Jaiwantiben Mehta, Shaina N.C., former Centre Minister Suresh Prabhu, Mahesh Jethmalani, Mr. Adik Shirodkar, World renowned Spinal surgeon -Dr. Premanand Ramani and celebrities like Singer Sudesh Bhosale and actress Varsha Usgaonkar. Thanks to Mr. Bal Desai, Mr. Sanjay Hegde, Dr Asmita Hegde and the entire team of GeneratioNext who had invited me to be part of this talk show.
With his sad demise, India has lost a leader with integrity . May his soul rest in peace.