Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that his father and him were not typical politicians, but were professionals who are also in public life." Speaking to Rainmaker about public life, he said, "I have always been around people in political life, advising and appearing for them, so I've never been far from politics." He added that he joined politics at a time when the Congress party was not in power and did not really have anything in particular to offer him. "So even though I had offers from other parties at that time, I thought that broadly I disagree least with the views of the Congress party in comparison to others."
Responding to how he joined a party which was the rival of the party that his father was in, he said that even though his father was his professional and legal guru, his political guru was Madhavrao Scindia.
"Although there was a difference of a lot of years between us, he took an instant liking to me and we had been very close for many many years from the early eighties when I was nowhere in politics. His dedication and style really influenced me and made me interested in public life.
"The supreme irony was that during his lifetime he tried to get me to enter politics, but nothing happened. It was only after his death that I entered politics. Thereafter, the tasks I have been given have been very educative. Spokespersonship has a very high learning curve and I have enjoyed that. Parliament has been another learning experience.
"My father also transcended political lines in many ways. The major reason for his affiliation with the BJP were the literary interests he shared with Mr Vajpayee who was very insistent that he join public life. He had been a Congressman earlier and in fact Rajiv Gandhi had asked him to revive Panchayati Raj, and the amendments to the Constitution were completed on his report.
"After he completed his term as High Commissioner, Mr Vajpayee insisted that my father join politics. Even though my father and I remained close to the very end, we have both been independent professionals for a very long time."
He also pointed out that the fact of them belonging to rival political parties was an important question because it spoke a lot about those who reposed their trust in them respectively.
"For a Congress president to repose trust in me as a spokesperson who is privy to a lot of sensitive information where the father is in the opposite party, is an act of statesmanship. Equally, I would not be there if I had betrayed that trust in any manner."
He also said that there has been an erosion in the spirit of statesmanship which were the hallmark of independent India - primarily because there is no cementing, single uniting issue, and also because we live in a much more materialistic world. "Today, the issues are narrower and more personal and idealism has suffered a decline. If you find that idealism has declined in every profession and every sector of society, why should you expect the political class to be exempt? No doubt that statesmanship and rising above narrow issues has suffered a decline."
"However, I am always pleasantly surprised once in a while in Parliament and other fora of public life to still find people rising above. If there is one thing which distinguishes Pakistan from India, it is that you cannot have a Central Hall conversation between Nawaz Sharif and the ex-General, but you do have it in Delhi. There are instances where Parliament rises as one voice when they feel that they are wronged."
Loading...
13:20
"I cherish my rigid attention to integrity."by RainmakerIndia2,017 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)