Bhairon Singh Shekhawat: A Man of Integrity and Leadership

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, who served as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan three times and was also the Vice President of India, is widely recognized for his honesty and quick wit. After the Babri Masjid incident, the central government dismissed the Rajasthan government. During the period of President’s Rule, elections were held, and Shekhawat, who had already served as Chief Minister twice, led the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 1993 elections.

When the results were announced, neither BJP nor Congress secured a majority. However, ten newly elected independent members expressed their support for Shekhawat, which gave BJP the majority. Senior Congress leaders, including Pranab Mukherjee, Bhajan Lal, Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, and Ahmed Patel, stayed in a prominent hotel in Jaipur, with Gujarat’s former Home Minister, Prabodh Rawal, also residing in a nearby guest house, under the surveillance of Haryana's security officers. I, too, stayed in a nearby guest house, having had prior acquaintance with Prabodh Bhai (I was then working with Times of India in Ahmedabad), and often had breakfast with him in his room, which was filled with boxes of cash.

Meanwhile, former Chief Minister Hardev Joshi hosted party leaders and legislators for meals at his farmhouse on Ajmer Road. Even a week after the results were declared, no government had been formed. BJP leaders expressed their frustration at the Raj Bhavan, with Lal Krishna Advani arriving in Jaipur by a special flight. The entire route to Raj Bhavan was barricaded from the BJP office at Ashok Road.

Led by Shekhawat, a march of BJP legislators reached Raj Bhavan, and all of them sat down on the lawns. Advani and Shekhawat were summoned by the Governor, Baliram Bhagat (a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha), but after half an hour, no commitment was made. Angrily, Shekhawat remarked to the elderly Governor, “You must think about it, one foot is already in the grave, what will you tell your maker?”

The Governor then went upstairs to his office, called Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao for instructions, and informed him that Congress had not yet made a claim. The Prime Minister directed the Governor to invite Shekhawat for the swearing-in ceremony. The next morning, the Governor invited Shekhawat to take the oath of office.

Shekhawat later had a meal with independent legislators and journalists at the BJP headquarters. During the election campaign, he had told me, “I am still the Chief Minister, just on leave, and I will rejoin soon.” When he returned from the campaign and was about to hold a press conference at the BJP office, a message was broadcast on the police wireless, “The CM Sahib is on his way.” When asked about it, Shekhawat responded, “The message is correct, I am the Chief Minister on leave.”

Once, while traveling from Jaipur to New Delhi, Shekhawat’s convoy was on Tonk Road, heading to the Sanganer airport. The Additional SP was repeatedly asking for the location of the convoy, but no response came. Frustrated, Shekhawat reportedly said over the wireless, “Why don't you inform me? You idiot, where is the CM Sahib?”

Some time later, at a public event, the same officer saluted Shekhawat. Shekhawat responded with, “Your idiot CM Sahib is here.” The officer didn’t understand the remark, but Shekhawat later explained to the press, saying, “Even in my car, the wireless messages come.”

During his tenure as Chief Minister, Shekhawat never compromised on integrity. On February 16, 1995, Harendra Mirdha, son of Congress leader Ramnivas Mirdha, was kidnapped by militants from Punjab while he was walking in Jaipur’s C-Scheme area. The kidnappers demanded the release of Devinder Singh Kullar, the leader of the Khalistan Liberation Front, who was imprisoned in Punjab.

I filed a report in Times of India, stating that the kidnappers had kept Mirdha on the outskirts of Jaipur. Shekhawat summoned me and sternly said, “You have ruined all my efforts; they must have moved him elsewhere now.” Fortunately, on February 26, 1995, during a routine police check in Jaipur's outer locality, Mansarovar's Model Town, the police caught terrorist Navneet Singh Kandia, recovered ₹77 lakh, and seized AK-47 rifles. Harendra Mirdha was also rescued. In this kidnapping case, terrorist Harminder Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment by Jaipur’s Additional District Judge.

Shekhawat never even considered entertaining the demands of the terrorists when dealing with the central government. He stood firm in his commitment to the nation’s security, regardless of external pressures.