Jaipur bids adieu to a fine legislator Giridharilal Bhargava

Rajendra Bora

JAIPUR. In the passing away of Giridhari Lal Bhargava the capital city of Jaipur has lost one of its finest sons. He was such a public figure and people’s representative that others would envy. A simpleton with no big personal ambitions but keeping service to the people at his heart was his strength which saw him winning electoral battles one after other till his death. It is no small thing that the BJP opted to field him for the Lok Sabha for the eighth time in a row.

He truly lived up to the slogan his party workers coined decades back for electioneering “Jis Ka Na Koi Poochhe Haal Uske Sang Giridhali Lal”. He knew his constituency and its people like back of his palm. He was “Bhai Saheb” for all. He was most approachable. Any one could walk up to him at any hour of the day and night with his problem. Such an affectionate bonding with the people of the city made him what he was. Only with this affectionate bonding with the people of the city he took on successfully the former Maharaja Bhawani Singh at the hustings and kept on increasing his margin of victory in Parliamentary polls.

Many mistook his simplicity as his gimmick but he was personally convinced about what he was doing like visiting every one in his constituency in hour of need or in the joy. In wedding seasons he would make it sure that he visited every function and shower his blessings on the couples. By the time he reached the last on his list the ceremony would have been in its final phase or almost completed. But every one face would brighten as soon as he reached the venue. Every year he would collect un collected ashes of deceased from the local cremation grounds and go to Haridwar to immerse them in holy river of Ganges.

His affectionate connection with the electors of his parliamentary constituency is only one facet of his personality. Unfortunately this was the only face of Bhargava media loved to depict and interpret. The fact that he was a fine and assertive legislator media never bothered to tell. A legislator is in fact a law maker and Bhargava lived up to that role too. We saw him as a member of Rajasthan Assembly for four terms before he moved to Lok Sabha . He was the only legislator who would participate in the debates on every bill taken up in the house. It was no simple participation talking superficial things to register one name in the debates but he would always come prepared after discussing all angles and aspects of the legislation being discussed. He would not shy talking to others, mostly experts, to arm himself with facts and figures before standing up in the house to discuss the legislative business in the house. He was never seen creating any unruly scenes in the legislature and spoke in dignified but assertive manner. That is why every presiding officer of the legislature liked him and never refused him time.

Bhargava kept his legislative acumen in Lok Sabha too. The house proceedings would show his true participation in debates for getting benefits for Jaipur. He enjoyed the same reputation with the presiding officers in Lok Sabha and had no difficulty in getting a slice of time to speak inn the house. He would never defy the chair and would always get support from the presiding officer even during the most heated moments.

He was a textbook example of a good legislator. Every year he would call the press and present before media persons accounts of his spending from MP Local Area Development Fund. Whenever he was telling about the works in his constituency for which he provided funds his eyes would sparkle. The emergency unit of the SMS Hospital would not have its present face had it not been Bhargava’s efforts and initial funding. The Pink City Press Club too got lion’s share from his MPLED fund to uplift its building grandeur.
As a text book politician he rose from the grassroots from a member of local Municipality to the Parliament but remained a child like simple human being. Many would envy him. A young member of Rajasthan Assembly from one of the constituencies in the capital city once said Bhargava Saheb had made our lives miserable. He has set a standard of interaction with the public which is very difficult for us to achieve and people view our performance from Bhargava Saheb’s standard.

Many would wonder why that fellow could never get any public office. He would have died long back if he had accepted one. He was happy with his role as a servant of his people as a legislator. He was always reluctant to accept any office which he sincerely believed would take him away from his peoples.
Only once he accepted in 1977 to become Chairman of Jaipur Urban Improvement Trust (UIT), which was later converted into Jaipur Development Authority (JDA). He accepted the office under great pressure from the then Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and from the doyen of Hindi journalism in Rajasthan Karpur Chand Kulish. As Chairman of UIT he conceived Vidhyadhar Nagar scheme and also to make Maansarovar as the asia’s biggest residential colony but his fear of taking up of public office proved correct as he, who had won the assembly seat in 1972 Indira Gandhi wave, lost in 1980 just after assuming public office. Thereafter, he refrained from accepting any public office and remained a common man.

Bhargava will not be physically with the people of Jaipur now but he would remain in their hearts. When ever his story will be told the listeners would get wet eyes.

(The obit appeared on page one of Hindustan Times -Jaipur Live- on March 10,2009)