OLD MEMORIES DIE HARD… Kaka the great!

These two pictures are of 1992 and 1994. One is of the meeting held outside the NDMC building near Jantar Mantar and another of his visit to the Bara Hindu Rao hospital to meet people addmitted there after consuming spurious liquor.

It was around nine O clock evening and his visit was hurriedly arranged. Kaka met every patient and talked to doctors as well as the deputy commissioner of police to bring the illicit bootleggers to justice.

He also demanded adequate compensation for the bereaved poor families whose only earning member of the family died after consuming the illicit liquor.

During those days black and white pictures were prominent because the newspapers were’nt in colour. The colour pictures came a year after.

I fondly remember the hectic days of campaigning when Kaka was contesting as the Congress candidate from the New Delhi parliamentary constituency against the BJP’s Shatrughan Sinha.

It was quite an interesting political fight as both of them were  Bollywood fame actors, one famous as a superstar of yester years and another a popular villain of the silver screen.

This was Kaka’s second election from New Delhi as he lost the first election against the BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani by merely 1500 votes but the latter preferred to opt ( for) the Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat seat from where also he had won simultaneously.

Actually, Advaniji had contested from New Delhi as well as the Gandhi Nagar seats as he was apprehensive to lose New Delhi as Kaka’s aura as a Super star and a heart throb of millions compelled the BJP stalwart not to take any risk.

Though Advaniji had won but a margin of merely 1500 votes was nothing as compared to his image and popularity, particularly in view of the New Delhi constituency being the BJP’s traditional strong hold earlier represented by him as well as the former PM AB Vajpayee.  Therefore it was a huge setback for the BJP then.

Kaka was asked by Rajiv Gandhi the then PM to contest from New Delhi despite the fact that the super star was not so keen to take the risk, this being his first contest.

But insiders say that the former Spl. Assistent of Indira Gandhi R. K. Dhawan and the then President and former minister HKL Bhagat assured Rajiv Gandhi of his victory by all means.

Hence Rajiv Gandhi called Rajesh Khanna to Delhi and personally convinced Kaka to contest which he could not deny, he being Rajivji’s fan and the latter being his.

The day Kaka met Rajiv Gandhi and got the green signal to contest from New Delhi he was staying in a suite in Hotel Ashok where I got an opportunity to meet him for the first time at 10.00 PM in the night and discuss on issues related to his election for two hours.

Sr journalist and former minister Rajiv Shukla too was with him at that point of time who, closely associated people say was also instrumental in encouraging KAKA for the contest and fixing his meeting with Rajiv Gandhi. Kaka’s trusted friend and leutinent from Mumbai Stevan Fernadiz was also there at that point of time.

It was in this meeting when Kaka asked me help him in his elections and my association continued there after as his media advisor.