Loyalist, but a rebel with a cause

Gurudas Kamat was with the Congress for 45 years. Pic/PTI

Three days before his untimely death, Gurudas Kamat had vowed to defeat the BJP and the Shiv Sena in the next general and assembly polls, appealing to Congress workers that they must strive hard to make Rahul Gandhi the next prime minister. Sadly, it turned out to be his last public speech, in which he paid tributes to his mentor, former PM late Rajiv Gandhi.

Party workers, who attended the programme 'Rajiv Ek Soach' in Ghatkopar last Sunday, hadn't expected him to depart so early at the age of 63, because they wanted him to guide them to regain the lost glory of the Congress. At the same meeting, Kamat and other speakers had kept politics aside and paid rich homage to late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The Kamat camp of the Mumbai Congress, which is still considered the strongest in terms of the support it gets, was disillusioned when he announced retirement from active politics in 2016. But he withdrew it later, and then again quit all party posts last year but kept the party's primary membership. However, developments in the past few months had upped their morale as Kamat had started taking interest in politics and working expeditiously to retain a Lok Sabha ticket from Mumbai North West constituency. His supporters were happy that their leader had bounced back with renewed vigour. But on Wednesday, Kamat passed way in New Delhi following a massive heart attack. Kamat had been camping there to seek audience with the party high command to apprise them of developments in the city unit, and a change in the leadership.

The anguish
Kamat's last speech (a recording of which is available with this author) vehemently explained what worried him most and took a toll on his health. It was again his disagreement with the city unit president, Sanjay Nirupam, who has asked the party leadership to replace Kamat's nominees in the organisation. Kamat's statements indicated that Nirupam was now trying to shift from Mumbai North constituency to the North West, which is his (Kamat's) fiefdom. "I don't want to contest from here (Mumbai North East, where he had beaten Pramod Mahajan, Subramanian Swamy, Jayawantiben Mehta and Kirit Somaiya before shifting to North West to accommodate the NCP).

Only a person who lost by 5 lakh votes can think of moving to a safer constituency," he said. He said it was he who had admitted the person (Nirupam) in Congress and requested unwilling party workers in Mumbai North to campaign for him. "See the fingers are now being pointed at me... But I can tell you with guarantee that there will be a new day and new time (change in the city leadership)," he said.

Before Nirupam was made city chief, the local Congress was split between the Kamat camp and an equally strong group led by late Murli Deora. But after Deora's demise, his son and former MP Milind did not pursue the fight. He gave Kamat a freehand and tacit support in the fight against Nirupam. Milind said in a tweet from Hamburg that they had their political differences, but he always respected and admired him (Kamat). He also re-posted a picture of his father, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, Kamat and Sharad Pawar.

Loyalist but a rebel
Kamat was persuaded by Sonia Gandhi to stay in the party when he quit from its primary membership following his disagreement with Nirupam. Later he kept himself away from Mumbai corporation polls, but continued to express his displeasure over Nirupam's decisions. He was upset after he was removed as general secretary in-charge of Gujarat where he had performed well to resurrect the party.

He had shocked the party when as a minister of state, he quit on being denied a ministry of his choice when PM Manmohan Singh reshuffled his cabinet in 2011. But later he patched up with the leadership. Veterans in the Congress say leaders like Kamat were a rarity because he did not think twice before relinquishing a lucrative position, and yet managed a solid comeback.

The Rajiv connection
Kamat shot to prominence when Rajiv Gandhi saw a spark in him as a Youth Congress leader. Gandhi gave Kamat, then 29, a Lok Sabha ticket from Mumbai North East in the 1984 polls, in which he beat Subramaniam Swamy and Pramod Mahajan. He was among the only two candidates from Maharashtra who were in the first list. The other was late Sunil Dutt, whose ex-MP daughter Priya said Kamat was a tall leader who worked his way up from the organisation and became a leader to reckon with.

As Mumbai Congress chief, Kamat had registered the party's finest performance in recent times. His supporters would fear his short temper but considering his sensitive side, they forgave him for all his wrong decisions. It was his great connect with the masses that enabled him to get 3-5 lakh people to rallies addressed by the Gandhis.

It was due to his unwavering loyalty to the Congress' first family that Sonia Gandhi, who knew him as one of her late husband's successful finds who later worked under her leadership and accepted her son Rahul as their boss recently, was among the first to pay her respects. Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Kamat's passing was a massive blow to the Congress family. "Gurudasji helped build the Congress party in Mumbai and was greatly respected and admired by all," he wrote.

Kamat is survived by his mother Manorama, wife Maharookh, and son Dr Sunil, who according to his father despised politics. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced a state honour for the last rites slated to be performed on Thursday.

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