My Friend : Raj
By - Raju Parulekar
- Journalist & Political Analyst
Well-known journalist and political analyst Raju Parulekar uncorks the mystique of his friend, Raj Thackeray. Instead of a drab CV of the party President, we chose this article as it profiles the leader with insight and sensitivity.
Part 1 | | |
When I met him
On the personal front among close friends and relatives, Raj is known as ‘Raja’ which means big –hearted, compassionate. The name is apt and suits his generous nature. There are many reasons behind this. Most important reason being, he doesn’t wish bad for anyone. Not even for his enemies. I am amazed of this trait in him. I think this is one of the reasons why Raj is my close friend. Until I met Raj, I thought, not having venomous thoughts for my enemies was a major drawback. But after meeting Raj, what I felt was my inferiority complex became my strong point.
Raj is charismatic; everyone knows this. But Raj’s charisma or his appealing nature is not incidental. Raj is in politics since he was 23 years old. Since then he has made friends and formed a close bond with them. Whenever he travels he sees to it that his friends are comfortable and goes out of his way to make them feel at home. Just because he is involved in aggressive politics or he is an impressive orator doesn’t make him alluring. He puts others before himself and no wonder he is rated as the favourite leader of the masses. I have come across many social and political leaders. Most of them are accompanied by their wives and children and they are busy taking care of them, conveniently forgetting the people around them. But this is not the case with Raj.
When Narayan Rane left Shivsena, by-elections were held in Malvan. Entire Shivsena had set their camp in Malvan. Raj was staying at Sharmila Hotel in Kankavli. Situation was such that people were many and rooms were less. Rane had booked all the hotels in his constituency causing inconvenience to Shivsena leaders and party workers. At these times Raj was very accommodative and invited as much people in his room as possible. Shivsena leaders were worried about their own comforts and were busy trying to make their stay ‘foolproof’. Shivsena and Maharashtra’s opposition leader Ramdas Kadam was put up at Sharmila Hotel. When he saw the new party workers invading his privacy, he packed his bags, throwing his weight around, ‘you fight your elections. I am going to Khed.’ At this crucial juncture, overlooking the issue of superiority and seniority, Raj intervened and convinced Ramdas Kadam, thus abstainnig him from leaving the hotel. I was constantly with Raj during these historical moments in Shivsena’s political arena. At that moment, he had the perfect understanding of the political situation around him, which no other Shivsena leader possessed. In those times, false rumours were spread everywhere about Raj leaving Shivsena. In fact Raj showed commendable patience and presence of mind under impossible conditions. An election strategy was drawn, but Raj was purposely kept away from the action. Secondly, Shivsena was trying to field Raj opposite Rane and gain power in Maharashtra for a long time to come. Raj understood this and it made him restless. Ironically, his restlessness did not arise from his political insecurity but he was emotionally upset and hurt. The whole of Shivsena and its leaders were grasped by political uncertainty.
Raj never for once felt insecure. He believed in his own leadership qualities. But his emotional struggle within himself made his close friends anxious as Raj spent sleepless nights thereafter. Only one thought came to his mind, ‘Balasaheb...He loves me, he loves me not...something like this kept churning in his mind. Balasaheb is fond of me. Balasaheb doesn’t love me...it was a poignant moment for him as the emotional war raged within his mind. Even his political and personal enemies must have not thought so deeply about Balasaheb. During those times, I have closely observed the political leaders and people who are close to Balasaheb and hence can say it authoritatively. My observations are unprejudiced and analytical solely based on sensibility.
Understanding and Misunderstanding
When I was not acquainted with Raj, he came across to me as a rude and aggressive person. He was introduced to me by my friend Uday Tanpathak. He took me to visit Raj one early morning. I clearly remember as I was feeling very sleepy that day. There was one positive thing about our meeting. I remember Raj giving his opinion on Hindutva. Raj had said, ‘The issue of Hindutva is fine. But the need of the hour is: in Maharashtra, Marathi, Gujarati, Jain, Marwadi should come together and think about the well-being of Maharashtra. When we say, Marathi Manoos, how can we ignore the Muslim from Khed-Malegaon and Christian from Vasai?’ I was taken aback as I heard this. Then Raj was likened to Balasaheb. I had anticipated something close to this but not exactly this. Recently he said, ‘We must devoutly believe in what we say, only then can we keep faith. And eventually, people will believe. My grandfather gave credence to his heart before he spoke. Balasaheb too followed suit. I speak only when I have complete faith in my thoughts. If I do a verbatim on Balasaheb’s speeches while commenting on Hindutva then I would be at the brunt of everyone’s joke. I am not interested in blowing empty bubbles devoid of dedicated direction.
We did not immediately become friends after this early morning meeting. Ironically, I knew Uddhav much before I knew Raj. I will mention Uddhav in Raj’s context as it is unavoidable. What I got to know about Raj from Uddhav and about Uddhav from Raj is very distressing. I am not doing a political appraisal of Uddhav or Raj. Both have every right to indulge in politics. Do what they feel is right, without thinking about the repercussions. But what happened in Raj’s case was categorically unjust as the political understanding Raj possessed in Shivsena was unparallel in comparison to his generation leaders. He hoped to work for the betterment. He had the support of the youths who were ready to lay down their lives if need be. He asked for delegation of responsibilities. He got the answer, 'entire Maharashtra belongs to you’ which was unacceptable (he took precise lesson from this sentence). The common public does not know what really transpired. I am an eyewitness to the happening. Raj was very popular in Shivsena. He had a huge following wherever he went and Shivsena’s office-bearers met him discreetly. First I did not believe in these ‘fables.’ But once when Raj was in Pune, Shivsena office-bearers paid him a discreet visit. Suddenly someone announced about Shivsena’s Public Relations -Chief Ravindra Mirlekar coming to meet Raj officially. The office-bearers present immediately fled from the place. They were afraid they might be black listed in Matoshree. Raj commented, ‘how can we entrust Maharashtra to these people when they care only about their chairs. Tomorrow, when Maharashtra will be in trouble these people will be the first to turn their back. It could be a mere handful of people who will stand firmly rooted to the ground and save our State’. Only one person thought it wise to stay put and that was Deepak Paigude.
Everyone was free to indulge in politics and power play but maligning Raj’s name at the behest of selfish and petty people was uncalled for. At those times, Subhash Desai belonging to the inner circle of Shivsena resembled Nana Phadnavis.  The emotional turmoil Raj underwent was painful. He was in two minds; his decisive action could have stressful repercussions on Balasaheb and on the other side a competent leader like him had to face humiliation from five thousand mansabdar . Raj was restless like a tiger caught in the cage. I have spent many evenings talking to him. His condition was like the tiger caught in cage while women and children throw stones ridiculing his helplessness. Shivsena was giving a live demonstration then. The only difference was the cage in question here was Balasaheb’s affection for Raj. He broke the barrier. But that was much later. He was pushed up the wall. I am witness to many incidents. Raj reacted with patience and esteem.
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