“In this era of coalition, consensus among party workers is highly desirable and political differences should never come between personal relations. Pramod Mahajan was a dynamic and courageous man,? said Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Sekhawat while paying tributes to the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. He was speaking at a condolence meeting, held at Mavalankar Hall, New Delhi, on May 3, 2007, to pay tribute to Mahajan on his first death anniversary. ?His vision and leadership qualities were unimaginable. He had friends not only in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but also in other political parties including Congress,? he further said.
Shri Shekhawat stated that success is just a matter of faith and one'ssocial or economic background has nothing to do with it. ?Pramod did not belong to a very rich family but his positive attitude and eagerness to work made him so famous. His life is a textbook, which will tell you about your drawbacks and also the ways to deal with them,? he added.
Shri Shekhawat met the late BJP leader 30 years ago while he was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and was invited to Mumbai for a political meet. According to Shri Shekhawat, Mahajan played a pivotal role in his election as the Vice President. Some of the leaders present on the occasion also held the late BJP leader responsible for the successful coalition of BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena leader Shri Manohar Joshi described Mahajan'srole in his becoming the Lok Sabha Speaker as important. Describing his demise as the biggest tragedy of this decade, he said that he is a theist, but sometime he gets angry with the God for snatching Pramod Mahajan from us, who was a hard working, intelligent and determined warrior. He called Mahajan the Chanakya of Indian politics.
Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference leader Shri Farooq Abdullah, reminiscing on his interactions with Mahajan, said the late BJP leader believed that unity between the two sides alone could lead to friendship between India and Pakistan. Giving the example of Europe, Shri Abdullah said that a time would come when the line that we drew in 1947 would be rubbed off.
Senior BJP leader Shri Jaswant Singh said that the characteristic of Pramod Mahajan'spersonality was that he, understanding the significance of the work, would take initiatives on his own, without waiting for any direction from anyone.
Various speakers said Pramod Mahajan was a mix of qualities?a master of political management and event management, the man who built a strong party and one of the main people who kept the NDA coalition going despite differences. Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion included Shri Yashwant Sinha, Shri George Fernandes, Shri Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Shri Shatrughan Sinha, former Information and Broadcasting Minister of Pakistan Shri Mushahid Hussain, Shri Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and others. (FOC)
