An untimely death

THIS IS THE second time in recent months that the unfeeling hand of death has snatched the life of a young politician with a future of considerable promise. Just two months after Rajesh Pilot died in a car accident, India's polity has lost Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, who succumbed to leukaemia after a short but fateful illness. Although they were cast in different moulds, the two young men were united by a sense of dynamism, an impatience with red tape and an attitude which implied that time was much too short to achieve their objectives. At the same time, they shared an amiable and gregarious nature, which won them friends across the political divide. The condolences which have poured in from various quarters following Kumaramangalam's death reflect a sense of loss over someone who was liked and who retained the ability to distinguish between political enmity and personal friendship.

The late Union Minister for Power came from a thoroughly political background and both his father (Mohan Kumaramangalam) and grandfather (P. Subbarayan) occupied ministerial berths at the Centre. Given this, it is not surprising that Kumaramangalam (or `Ranga' as he preferred to be referred to) cut his political teeth very early as a functionary of the Youth Congress and as a trade union leader. However, it was the rapport he struck with the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, which gave him the break into Parliament even though he was inducted into the Union Ministry only after Mr. Narasimha Rao took over.

His resignation from the Ministry was preceded by public differences - some of them over economic policy - with Mr. Narasimha Rao and it was no surprise when Kumaramangalam eventually cast his lot with the breakaway Congress grouping led by Mr. N. D. Tiwari. However, the switch to the BJP in 1998, a little before the general election, was the cause for a fair amount of astonishment. There were many who found it inexplicable that a left-leaning trade unionist with an avowedly liberal and modernist bent of mind could have taken such a decision. Having taken it though, Kumaramangalam seemed to have few difficulties adjusting to his new political circumstances, winning two Lok Sabha elections and being appointed (during his first ministerial stint) as Union Minister for Power and Parliamentary Affairs.

Taking charge of the Power Ministry at a critical time, Kumaramangalam championed the restructuring of the country's grossly inefficient and corrupt State Electricity Boards, strongly advocating that they be trifurcated to deal separately with the business of generation, transmission and distribution. He was in the forefront of pushing for legislation that would, among other things, make the metering of power mandatory and reduce the rampant theft of power all over the country. Although the positions he adopted were controversial, he was unwavering in his belief that if India failed to make its power sector commercially viable, it would have no choice but, to use his words, ``return to the age of the lantern''. Kumaramangalam rarely minced words when speaking about the shortcomings of the power sector and although such views did not meet with everyone's approval, he displayed a passionate involvement in the issue of power sector reform. Kumaramangalam's death is a loss not merely to the BJP-led Government but also to the party, where he was one of the few moderate faces. The genuine grief over his death is a reflection of his popularity; quite clearly, his sudden and untimely departure has injected a sense of loss that has been felt across disparate sections of the country's political class.

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Section  : Opinion
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