Union Science & Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh played a key role in defusing the emerging political crisis caused by Anna Hazare’s fast. It was his direct contact with Hazare that proved to be the clincher in breaking the standoff between the government and Team Anna. The former Maharashtra CM was in a relaxed mood on Sunday as he talked about the lessons learnt and challenges ahead in an interview with D K Singh.
Anna Hazare has said it is only half-victory and he now plans to go a countrywide tour. What do you think are the challenges ahead for the government?
Whatever we have promised, we have to deliver. Unless the whole process (passage of Lokpal Bill) is complete, he will follow it, track it and get things done. I know him for a long time. He is a taskmaster. He will not give up. He got three-four laws enacted in Maharashtra. All his demands are in public interest and so nobody can say no to him. So far as his three demands are concerned, there is unanimity over this. How to put them in the constitutional framework is the job of the Standing Committee and the Parliament.
But his nationwide tour is sure to have wide ramifications for your party and the government. What will be your course of action?
He has got overwhelming support from all over the country. He will at least go to those people to thank them. He has no political ambitions. He is a simple person. In Maharashtra Assembly elections earlier, he identified some honest and good candidates irrespective of their party affiliations and supported them. But he is not into politics and elections. I don’t know about this time though. He has always been a social worker. He has no personal agenda. His movement is positive.
But your party called him a ‘mukhauta’ of the RSS and the BJP. Do you agree?
He has absolutely no connection with the RSS or the BJP. He is a secular person with Gandhian thoughts and values. Similarly, he is neither pro or anti-Congress. He is a non-political person who will fight against whoever is in power.
How and when were you roped in to hold a dialogue with him and what transpired in your first meeting with him?
The day the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the entire Lok Sabha appealed to him to break his fast, I thought it was perhaps time for me to meet him and inquire about his health. So, I informed the Finance Minister, who approved it. When I met him (Anna), I told him that it was time for him to break his fast as he was at his peak and the entire country was looking up to him. I told him, ‘you not only have to get a strong Lokpal Bill passed, but have to also see how it is implemented’. He said he had three demands, which were very important because the common man is suffering. He said if the government discussed these demands in Parliament, he would break his fast.
He did not want any resolution or voting...
No, he said that the moment discussions start in Parliament, he would break his fast. I then briefed the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister about this. They asked me whether I was sure that he would break his fast if the demands are met. The rest are matters of details.
So, when did this demand for a resolution and voting come up? What was your biggest worry yesterday?
The demand for voting came from his team later. At around 4 pm yesterday, he called me up and said that somebody had told him that no resolution was coming, nor any voting happening. I then explained to him that if there was a unanimous resolution, voting was not required. I said whatever we have promised, we will deliver. He was satisfied. I told him that it was the question of a Maharashtrian’s (Deshmukh’s) prestige and there should not be any last-minute problems. It was not to be because we have such a long association.
That brings us to the role of his team. Yesterday, many MPs alleged that Anna was being misled by those surrounding him. Did you also feel the same way?
I don’t know. I always met him and spoke to him one-on-one. It was only yesterday when I went to deliver the Prime Minister’s letter that he introduced me to Arvind Kejriwal and others.
So, you didn’t feel that he was being misled by his team members...
He has a mind of his own and I am sure he must have learnt a lot of things this time. Yesterday, when I handed over the PM’s letter and he read it, he said that he would break his fast and I should go to the dais and read out the letter. It was only after he had already taken a decision that he called the others to inform them. I was always dealing with him directly and was in touch with him on phone.
Anna has already talked of the next stage of his fight over demands like right to recall, right to reject, etc. How will you meet this challenge?
Things like electoral reforms are already under consideration of our government. So, there is no question of any challenges.
What have you learnt from the entire episode? Do you think the government mishandled Anna’s agitation starting from his arrest on August 16?
I cannot comment on this because I was not a part of the decision-making process.
