November 18, 2019
Derek O’Brien speaks during obituary references in Rajya Sabha
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, All India Trinamool Congress will join you in paying tribute to these five eminent parliamentarians. Let me begin with the eminent parliamentarian from my home state – Gurudas Dasgupta ji.
After he passed away Trinamool chairperson sum it up beautifully by saying that in the passing away of Gurudas Dasgupta ji he will be remembered for his contribution to the nation as a parliamentarian and a trade union leader and our condolences to his many admirers, friends and his wife Jayashree.
Ram Jethmalani ji was not 95 years old, he was 95 years young. He promised to come to Calcutta in January 2019 but he couldn’t come there. There are many stories in my last 8 or 9 years since I’ve known Ram Jethmalani ji. Many of the stories cannot be told on the floor Parliament because he had his own special way about him and we will all miss him greatly. And also Jagannath Mishra ji and Libra Ji.
The strange ironies of life sometimes also play out in death. In 2000, the law minister was in fact Ram Jethmalani ji. And in 2000, the person who took over from him as the law minister, we are paying him tribute today – that is Arun Jaitley Ji.
Arun jaitley ji – polar opposites in ideology across the floor in Rajya Sabha, occasional dualist with us in the media and yet to many of us he was a mentor in Parliament. He advised many of us, specially when we came here as young parliamentarians. We completely disagreed with his ideology but he always advised us on the tone and tenor of debates. He said never get personal, anything else you do.
Two little anecdotes, if I with your permission may share. One, of course is second hand from him, where he told us about the story of the emergency. He had to disappear and he was supposed to get onto his friend’s scooter, cross the wall and disappear to avoid arrest. So everything went as per plan, as per the story. But when he crossed the wall there was no friend, no scooter. So he did not know what to do. So, in typical Arun Ji style, guess what he did! He walked back, had some chai and biscuits and then 10 minutes later the police came in and took him away.
And the other story, actually no story about Arun Jaitley can be complete without one story at least in Central Hall, because the love for C (Cricket and Central Hall) were there and this is an interesting one. I was sitting in Central Hall with four, five or seven journalists and told them we got a new name for Arun Jaitley ji.
Actually giving a tribute like this to Arun Jaitley ji, if he was sitting here, he’d be asking why you are so serious; halka kuchh bolo. So, I was sitting with a few journalists in the Central Hall and told them that we have given a new name to Arun Jaitley ji, and that is plantation manager. And I told them why. So it went back to him.
I thought he would be very upset with me because I was a comparatively junior parliamentarian. But the next morning he saw me and said, “Hey, you called me a plantation manager? It was very funny.” Obviously he knew the reason we light-heartedly called him a plantation manager. Because, he was sitting in Parliament and planting stories in the media. The way he reacted to it was very, very positive, with a good sense of humour. Condolences from the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Didi to Sangeeta, Dolly and his children Sonali and Rohan and all his admirers and colleagues and everyone.
I would leave you with one thought. The best way to remember, I think, all these parliamentarians – whether Gurudas ji or Jaitley ji… Jaitley ji’s surname was seven letters. The other seven letters, which we could learn from all these parliamentarians, is the way we conduct ourselves despite the political and deep ideological differences. And that seven letter word is DECENCY. That could be the biggest tribute to these gentlemen.
Thank you, Sir.
