Mahajan: A great loss to Mother India

Pramod Mahajan, the former IT minister, I&B minister, defence Minister and Parlimentary affairs minister had an untimely death.

Forget about his party affiliations and forget about his hindutwa leanings.

Look at him as a professional who does his job with utter clearity and a spontaneous sense of humor. He is one guy who can cool off any amount of tension in any press confrence. He is one point man who believed he could deliver stuffs. He is a man of strategy, man of work, a man who earned his way up the political ladder from a low profile sub editor of Tarun Bharat to the I&B minister and later an advisor to the Prime Minister.

This should not have been the way to his end. This certainly is not. There were miles to go before he died. He died before he could become a legend. Yes, he was a legend in the making. He was the man who changed the way Indian politics approached electioneering. His strategy could have failed in 2004 elections as "Indian shining" campaign couldn't make a mark in the voters' mind. But, I would say, that is the way an election has to be faught. On the backs of your past achievements and not on the opponents weakness.

His fighting spirit was evident even in his death. When Vajpayee told that, as always Mahajan will fight back and pull thorugh, I too was confident of his come back. Gutters like Ajit Jogi survived, but Pramod didn't. Another terrible blow to the Indian Politics. He was the next generation face of young vibrant India. I thought he had the potential to become the PM oneday.

He has many a feathers to his hat during his tenure as an I&B minister. He was the one to start the first 24 hrs news channel in DD. He was instrumental in starting the 24 sports channel, DD sports and in getting the broadcast rights fo rthe cricket matches to DD. He has played a very important role in the formation of the market regulator in telecom, TRAI. And he was very much receptive to the advice of NASSCOM when he was the IT minister. He displayed shrewdness in understanding the depth of the problem and has the spine to take it head on. That is one reason why, he was on the headlines many a times for the wrong reasons. But, neverthless, he doesn't care for he does what he believes in.

India has to put up with one more loss. May his soul rest in peace and May god bless India with many more Pramod Mahajans.

Murali