42. THE SPLIT IN THE CONGRESS
The following is the transcript of a long interview given on Sunday, March 3, 1970, by Mr. Y. B. Chavan to Mr. T. V. Kunhi Krishnan, the author of "CHAVAN AND THE TROUBLED DECADE".
YBC : We come to Bangalore, to the A.I.I.C., meeting. Before Bangalore there is a history of about one month. On may 4, 1969, Zakir Sahib (President of India) died. Immediately after the Faridabad Session of the Congress, he died. Talks went on for nearly one month as to who should be the candidate for the office of the President. It went on continuously - consultations and problings.
TVK : What was your own role during that period ?
YBC : For sometime I refused to think about it. One day when I met the Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi, this question came up. She said :
"AAP KYA SOCHTHE HAI ?"
(What is your view?)
I said, I had not given any positive thought to this idea.
TVK : You speak in Hindi ?
YBC : Sometimes. But normally I speak in English, because I cannot express myself very clearly in Hindi.
TVK : Did she raise this issue or did you raise it?
YBC : She wanted to know. I said that I did not know who should come. That was a matter for the Prime Minister and the President of the Congress to sit down and discuss. But I told her that as a principle we should now stop the idea of selecting the Vice-President to be the President.
TVK : This convention will stick after sometime.
YBC : It looks like it. That was my feeling and I explained it. She agreed with me. At least she gave me that feeling. She said:
"AAP JO KAHATE HAI VAH THEEK HAI"
She was not expressing a final view. "There is something in what you say."
That is what she meant. But as to who should be there, neither she nor I expressed any view. I came away with the feeling that she was not keen on Giri.
After that, for a few days we did not meet. Then one morning I read in a newspaper that Seth Govind Das of Madhya Pradesh had issued a statement recommending Babu Jagjivan Ram. When I read that, certain mental processes started. I thought this was a good idea, a name which would be probably acceptable to all. I liked Jagjivan Ram to become President, because he is a good choice, a good man, a progressive person, an accepted national figure.
TVK : Did you not know that you were eliminating one of your competitors, kicking him up ?