In 1999, Congress president Sonia Gandhi warmly received herlate husband's most vocal critic into the party.
S Jaipal Reddy returned to the Congress after 24 years ofuncompromising anti-Congressism, scandalising his well-wishers who could notbelieve that having fought so bitterly against dynasty, he would join the partyunder Sonia.
“The Janata experiment has failed. Only the Congress cancurb the BJP. I have no choice,” he maintained. Jaipal insisted he waslistening to the demands of his conscience. “I can put my head on the choppingblock, not my conscience,” he often said. Thirteen years on, he has once againheeded his inner voice “ and this time, it has driven a wedge between him andthe party he serves.
Jaipal's summary removal from the oil ministry did notsurprise anyone, least of all the minister himself. Officials in the ministryhad been joking with him about his imminent departure for over a year “ eversince he took on Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) over the Krishna-Godavaribasin gas field. “Sir, is this the last file you will sign?” a joint secretarycheekily asked him, after word got out that RIL chief Mukesh Ambani was furiouswith Jaipal for refusing to oblige him.
Accustomed to VIP treatment by the government in general andthe petroleum ministry in particular under Murli Deora, Ambani was shocked thathe not only could not dictate oil policy but even had to wait for appointmentswith the minister and senior bureaucrats. Once, after a disappointing meetingwith Jaipal, he drove straight to the house of a senior cabinet minister andcomplained bitterly to him.
While Jaipal may have anticipated his removal from the oilministry, he could not have imagined being demoted to the relativelylow-voltage science and technology portfolio in the latest cabinet reshuffle.For over a decade, he had placed implicit faith in Sonia's sense of fair play.Overwhelmed by her graciousness, given his bitter public wrangles with Rajiv,he responded with loyalty and became an impartial sounding board.
Jaipal is one of the few ministers who enjoys a reputationfor uncompromising integrity and perhaps the only one who can lay claim tointellectual, as well as financial, honesty. AK Antony “ the only other leaderfrom the South who is as well-known and respected “ while celebrated for histouch-me-not integrity, has never taken a stand against endemic corruption.Likewise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is seen (at least in the internationalmedia) as the most honest PM presiding over the most corrupt government inhistory.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who worked very closely with himin the Janata Party (their paths diverged, largely because of Jaipal'suncompromising anti-BJPism), says: “I have a lot of respect for him, not justfor his intellect and capability, but his political acumen and honesty. Afterhaving spent so many years in government, he retains the same flair and probityin public life. I'm very happy to see he has lived up to the expectations ofall his old friends like me.”
That Jaipal would not fit into the Congress culture of thenew millennium was a given. He refused to be co-opted into the internalpolitics of the party, remaining the chief spokesperson for five years withouttaking sides.
“He's a die-hard secularist and socialist,” says CPI MP DRaja and that has not changed over the years. Jaipal is a die-hard socialist “despite being the son of a rich landlord and money lender “ and in thatrespect, is on the same page as Sonia. He is not against economic reforms buthas frequently said, “I believe in sticking scrupulously to a rule-basedregime.” In dealing with RIL, he went strictly by the book, repeatedly throwingit in Mukesh Ambani's face. Raja describes him as “one of the most principledpoliticians” today.
