Jairam
Ramesh is a maverick in the Congress party: He has more enemies
within the party than outside. Jairam once said it was extremely easy
for him to join the BJP as he was very fond of Atal Behari Vajpayee
as a liberal leader. But he also said that what kept him away from the
BJP was that the party’s core is not secular. “How different
I will be from Albert Speer who rationalised working for Hitler?”
he reasoned.
With
degrees from IIT Delhi, Carnegie Mellon University and MIT, Jairam would
have earned more money from a secure, high-paying job. Instead, he chose
politics after meeting Rajiv Gandhi through Sam Pitroda while working
for the latter’s technology missions.
Politics was a bumpy ride for him as he nearly went through a dry spell
of no-earning between 1992 to early 1994, and was forced to accept an
anchor job with DD in June 1994. For a little over a year and a half,
he anchored the stock market show for the national broadcaster. However,
former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram brought him to his team
as an advisor, and in 1997, Pranab Mukherjee recommended him for a post
of secretary, economic affairs of the Congress Party. Since then, Jairam
has stayed with the party.
Now, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll, Jairam Ramesh is the among
the busiest of all Congressmen. Excerpts from an interview with Sify.com
SIFY:
You are being projected as the Pramod Mahajan
of Congress. Do you take this as a compliment or do you feel you’re
wearing someone else’s mask?
JR: It’s none of this. Probably
because we do some similar jobs for our respective parties — managing
campaign and media relations — it is obvious to draw a comparison between
us.
SIFY:
You have been with Congress for a long time. First,
you helped Rajiv Gandhi in his early 1991 election campaign and drafted
a large chunk of the economic liberalisation programme for Dr Manmohan
Singh. It seems the party always called you when there is a policy drafting
and documentation job, but does not groom you for electoral politics
or an important position in the working committee. Are you hurt?
JR: The party has always entrusted
me with certain responsibilities to discharge. I am happy doing the
job I have been asked to do. I don’t ask for anything more or
less
SIFY: But
all these years, your efforts have never been appreciated by your party.
However, in this 13th Lok Sabha election, it seems you have found favour
with the party president. Do you feel good, being so close to the seat
of power for the first time?
JR: t
makes you feel good when you are chosen for an important assignment.
It makes you more responsible. In the process of doing your job honestly,
if you are appreciated by your high-command, it is a bonus.
SIFY: India
Today magazine has found, by conservative estimates, the politicians
and political parties would be spending nearly Rs 11, 562 crore in the
13th Lok Sabha Poll. The Times of India newspaper has stated a relatively
lower figure. How much is the Congress spending on the election campaign?
JR: I cannot give you the figure.
SIFY: This
time, your election campaign is more organised than ever before and
backroom operations are scientifically managed, compared to all previous
elections. What do you say?
JS: Yes, we are more organised than
ever before and our efforts will pay off. We have two operation hubs
— Salman Khurshid’s office and Maharashtra chief Minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde’s unoccupied house. All the backroom operations of
the Election Management Group are being integrated here. Since we focus
on ‘jan sampark’ mass contact programmes in this election, backroom
operations have acquired more significance.
SIFY: It
seems hiring Perfect Relations, the image management firm, has made
a lot of difference in your approach to election management?
JS: In
the entire election management, there is a very limited role for Perfect
Relations. The image management task is very specific. The company is
primarily monitoring the media reports for us.
SIFY: Do you
look forward to fighting active elections any time in future?
JS: No,
never in my life.
SIFY:
Then, you would be content with a Rajya Sabha
seat from Karnataka?
JS: I
never said so.
(Originally
appeared in SIFY.com)
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