New Delhi: The almost 'retired' Congressman Hans Raj Bhardwaj has done it again. He has once again attacked the Congress high command in New Delhi, describing it incapable of reviving the party. His 'outbursts' have not shocked anybody in the Congress. According to many top Congress leaders the party has now become a sour grape for him. Bhardwaj has never been a front ranking leader of the Congress, though he claims and believes that he is one of the stalwarts of the party. A five time Member of the Parliament (all through backdoor – Rajya Sabha), he was a junior minister for Law in Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimharao Governments for nine years. He never contested in any direct elections and has no grassroots level support.
He was elevated to the rank of a Cabinet minister of Law and Justice by Sonia Gandhi in the Congress led UPA – 1 between 2004 and 2009. Most part of his tenure was controversial including the alleged 'let off' of main accused in the Bofors scam Ottavio Quattrochchi.
Bhardwaj is a clever backroom operator. He first came in contact with Indira Gandhi and became a Member of the Parliament in 1982. Being her 'advocate' in some cases made him an important man in the judicial circles. After that he cultivated Rajiv Gandhi and managed to retain his position. During P V Narasimharao's tenure, he survived using his remarkable survival skills. Only in 2004, he got a seat in the front row of the government.
After the spectacular victory of the Congress in 2009 Lok Sabha elections, in a shocking development, Bhardwaj lost the coveted Law ministry to M Veerappa Moily. He was kept out of the Cabinet leading to all kinds of speculations. Some in the media even wrote his obituary. But, the Congress high command rehabilitated him as the Governor of Karnataka which was ruled by B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP. Bhardwaj's tenure as Karnataka Governor was full of controversies. He had several run ins with the BJP government there. He had recommended the dismissal of Yeddyurappa Government twice. But, his recommendations were rejected by the Centre. The state BJP had demanded his dismissal several times. His role in the appointment of Vice Chancellors of several universities in Karnataka also led to controversies. A seasoned Delhi 'durbari' Bharadwaj faced all those allegations with a 'brave' face. He vehemently defended his decisions.
Even when he was the Governor of Karnataka he made statements that he was a Congressman raising serious questions over the neutrality of the Governor's office. Hoping that Sonia Gandhi would bring him back as Law minister at the Centre, he had heaped praises over Gandhi family describing himself as a loyal servant of the family. But, it did not happen. When he was the Governor of Karnataka, national leadership of the BJP including Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad had launched tirade against him. Jaitley went hammer and tongs at Bhardwaj several time. He had said “Neither Bhardwaj's action nor language is consonant with the dignity of the constitutional office he holds. In language, utterances and functioning, the constitutional authorities were expected to act with dignity. But in the case of Mr. Bhardwaj, it was not in consonance with the dignity of the constitutional office he held”.
After Narendra Modi led the BJP's spectacular victory in May 2014, Bhardwaj suddenly did a U-turn praising him and attacking the Congress. Modi allowed him to complete his remaining term as Governor of Karnataka (it was anyway nearing its end). When he retired, his own Congress party Government in Karnataka showed no sentiments. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah even skipped the ceremonial seeing off of the Governor at the airport.
Bhardwaj is now back in New Delhi. He is a nobody in the Congress. Has no access to its vice president Rahul Gandhi. He occasionally attacks the Congress. It seems even the Congress has decided to ignore him. Mostly, they ignore his utterances. For them he is yet another 'sour' grape story. That's it.
According to an entry in Wikipedia, speaking at an Editors' Guild seminar, Shekhar Gupta, former Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express narrated an incident involving veteran journalist and BJP leader Arun Shourie and Bharadwaj. During discussions that followed Rajiv Gandhi's Defamation Bill, Bharadwaj had asked Shourie to be more respectful in speaking since Bharadwaj had practiced law in Shourie's father's court at Rohtak in Haryana. In response Shourie said "This much law should be known even to a mofussil lawyer like you".
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