New Delhi: In 1984, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi travelled to Maharashtra to pick a candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls to represent the Congress from the prestigious Bombay North East seat.
Gandhi looked favourably Gurudas Kamat, the then chief of the state unit of the Youth Congress. The problem was that Kamat’s candidacy was opposed by the entire top leadership of both the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) as well as the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC), both of whom preferred an experienced candidate. But Gandhi would have none of it.
“The opposition against Kamat by the regional leaders was so strong that they tried to stop him from meeting Gandhi. It was Rajiv Gandhi then who personally cleared his name on the spot and told him to go ahead with his campaign. Gandhi had then said he was choosing Kamat because young leaders should be given a chance to grow,” a senior leader narrated the incident requesting anonymity.
Kamat, at the young age of 30, went on to defeat the then BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan by over 96,000 votes. But 32 years later, Kamat, a Gandhi family loyalist, signed off abruptly on his political career in the Congress: I am resigning from “active politics”.
A five-time member of Lok Sabha, former Union minister and a strong organizational man, Kamat said he was resigning on personal grounds. To be sure, the party is yet to accept his resignation.
“Retiring from politics does not mean retiring from social work. I will continue to be available for people minus the party tag for whatever help or issues to be taken up with different agencies from this weekend,” Kamat said in a statement. “I would also like to emphasise that I have the highest respect and regard for Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi and my resignation is purely on personal grounds,” he added.
While Kamat’s resignation would deal a blow to the Maharashtra’s party unit, he is likely to be missed nationally by the Congress. He is also the general secretary in-charge for the crucial states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, as well as a member of the Congress Working Committee—the highest decision-making body of the party.
Kamat was born in Ankola village of North Kanara district in Karnataka on 5 October, 1954 but has lived in Mumbai. His association with Congress dates back to four decades when he joined the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). Rising from the ranks, he went on to become the national president of Indian Youth Congress, president of MRCC and eventually a union minister of state in the Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Kamat had become infamous in UPA-2 after he declined the portfolio of the post of minister of state for drinking water and sanitation in 2012--implying that it was not meaty enough for someone of his political experience. He had faced severe criticism for the move. The portfolio was eventually allotted to former rural development minister Jairam Ramesh. Kamat had contested the 2014 general election but lost to the Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar by nearly 1,83,000 votes.
“Kamat is a powerful leader and has risen from the ranks. He is very passionate about his work and has strong following particularly in Mumbai. The problem is that he holds himself in very high regard and that usually does not work in politics. We would often face a situation where if he has decided on a particular line, he would not change it for anything,” a senior party leader from Maharashtra said requesting anonymity. According to this leader, it would ‘not be a surprise’ if Kamat decides in the future to return to the party.
