“Lives of great men all remind us, we can make our lives sublime; And departing, leave behind us

footprints on the sands of time”
The above lines by the 19th Century American poet and educator H.W. Longfellow ring in our minds as we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Prof. Madhu Dandavate. A souvenir is brought out to record our remembrance of various facets of Prof. Dandavate’s life and ideas. Several comrades and scholars have contributed articles, memoirs and anecdotes recalling their association and impressions of Prof. Dandavate. In the following, I paraphrase some of those articles in a condensed form for the wider civil society and the political community.
L.K. Advani recalling his time with Dandavate in prison during Emergency and in the Cabinet afterwards says that “Madhu ji was one of the gentlest politicians I have come across in my life. Yet he was firm in his principles and convictions. He and his wife Pramila ji led a life of utter simplicity, a life completely devoted to selfless service of the nation and the common people.”
The Editor Brighter Kashmir, Farooq Wani records Dandavate’s visionary take on Kashmir. Dandavate spoke extensively on Kashmir. He had said, “We always keep in mind the desire of international forces…. to willingly jump into the fray and make Kashmir a pawn in international power politics. He cautioned the Indian state to prevent the global powers from “using this beautiful territory of Kashmir as a hot bed of international rivalries”. He argued that Kashmir must be an integral part of India while maintaining certain characteristic features of Kashmir. The analogy he used was that of a “woman who will always be like a daughter in mother’s house, but mistress in her own”. This reflects the genuineness of India’s federal features.
Srikant Jena, a former Cabinet Minister remembers Dandavate for his simplicity, compassion and commitment. He recalls how Dandavate would respond to request for helping the distressed farmers in Odisha and was committed to liberating resource-rich Odisha from poverty. Jena had seen Dandavate, the Minister, walking upto the Parliament Building in some exigency.
Dandavate was perceived to be accommodative to the point of being weak. This perception was dispelled by S.P. Shukla in his piece, “Working with Dandavate” as a member in the Planning Commission. Dandavate once told him that “Intellectual or analytical clarity was not difficult to attend. But the political process did not proceed in a straight line as it were”. So what appeared to many was not always true. Dandavate wished that his friends realised his angst which was essentially a part of practicing politician.
In a big tribute, Prof. B. Vivekanandan, who was associated with Prof. Dandavate for long time, said that he “had the opportunity to interact with, and study about, many reputed democratic socialists of the world which included, Willy Brandt, Bruno Kreisky, Olof Palme, Kalevi Sorsa and Madhu Dandavate”. But when Vivekanandan clinically compares them, Dandavate comes to the top. Vivekanandan asserts that Dandavate was one of the most outstanding democratic socialists of the 20th Century. Vivekanandan appeals for erecting a suitable memorial, at a prominent spot in the national capital of the country to commemorate Professor Dandavate.
Prof. Madhu Dandavate was a man of letters, words and action says Prof. Jitendra Sharma. Recalling his chance encounters with Dandavate, Prof. Sharma says, “He was not only a socialist theorist or analyst. He was practical in applying a people-oriented socialist approach as can be seen in his work as the Minister of Railways in Morarji Desai government.” Uday Dandavate brings out the humour and compassion in Dandavate’s communication. Prof. Dandavate used to say humour was both an equaliser and a tranquiliser. He recites one of the encounters of Dandavate with Mrs. Indira Gandhi which was marked by both humour and criticism. Dandavate was walking to the Lok Sabha from the Library and Mrs. Indira Gandhi was leaving the House. As they met, she greeted him and said, “Madhu ji you did an exemplary job as Railway Minister. It is my misfortune not to have you in my Cabinet.” He politely replied, “Thank you Indira ji. But I am fortunate that I am not a part of your Cabinet”. Both smiled and moved on.
In my piece, “Prof. Dandavate: As I Knew Him”, I have said how, by my observation of Dandavate’s political life, was relieved of the nagging agony of the statement by George Bernard Shaw; politics is the last resort for the scoundrel. If anyone in Indian political spectrum defied this oft-repeated derogatory maxim, it was Prof. Dandavate who made politics appear to be a noble profession through his words and actions. He was a complete public figure, who embodied the rare and remarkable qualities of honesty, integrity, loyalty, compassion, commitment, cheerfulness, simplicity and sacrifice, too ennobling to emulate.
S.N. Sahu brings out a remarkable incident which is not very much known to Dandavate’s supporters and admirers. A speech made by Smt. Usha Narayanan, wife of late K.R. Narayanan, the President of India on March 7, 2000 in the UN office in New Delhi, was reported as a box item in the Hindustan Times. The caption of the item was Bal Pothi, a booklet written by Gandhi ji in 1922, part of which was on gender equality, teaching children to do household work regardless of the gender. Dandavate saw this piece and asked Sahu who was then working as an OSD to President Narayanan for the text of that speech. Then he wrote a letter to the HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi requesting him to introduce Bal Pothi in the school’s curriculum. Sahu says “Dandavate was a leading figure of India’s public life imbued with and embracing profound thoughts and was driven by a passionate desire to translate them into action”.
Roger Hallhag, a Swedish social democrat comrade, who was twice the President of International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) and an adviser to the Prime Minister of Sweden, recalls Dandavate in his memories of Olof Palme. In Sweden and internationally, Palme was a popular leader. In New Delhi, a road has been named after him. Dandavate had joined the IUSY camp in Vienna in 1952. Leadership in IUSY remembers “Dandavate helping Europe-based IUSY to connect with recently decolonised Asia”. In his two meetings with Dandavate, Roger remembers him as an affable person with a great sense of humour.
Detecting a grave anomaly in distributive justice in regard to the distribution of food items, Prof. Prakash Kammardi laments the imbalance between production and circulation. In his article on hunger, malnutrition and farm distress amid abundance highlights the pathetic perversion in food supply despite abundant harvests. He regards Dandavate’s budget as the Finance Minister which formally raised a policy resolution for agriculture in the country as the most significant contribution. Dandavate laid out a clear road map with essential technical details on establishing a mechanism for remunerative pricing of farm communities in India. He outlined several variables for evaluation methodology in deciding MSP for agriculture crops.
Varughese George discusses contemporary capitalism in his memory of Dandavate. As a part of Kerala Socialist fraternity, George had the opportunity to listen to Dandavate. In fact, George used to translate his speeches into Malayalam when Dandavate visited the state. Since he had the widest acceptance of all, Dandavate used to visit Kerala to resolve issues between comrades. Dealing with capitalism, George should, in his future writings, look at Dandavate’s unique blend of Gandhi and Marx which could be an antidote to oppressive capitalism.
An educational entrepreneur from Odisha, Dr. Subhash Nayak the Chairman of NISS Group of Education remembers Dandavate and his formulation on higher education. On the current controversy on language, particularly BJP’s formulation of Hindu, Hindi and Hindustan, Nayak brings out an interesting quote by Dandavate. There has been two-language formula in the country – English, Hindi and mother tongue. It is either Hindi or English and a regional language. Dandavate, in his inimitable way, had said, “I am one of those who believe that rather than insisting on one language and two countries, we must have one country and two languages. That is the attitude that I would like to adopt”.
Dr. Susan Cherian, the Director of Schumacher Centre, invokes some of Dandavate’s ideas in dealing with the current challenges. She was struck by the simplicity and warmth of Prof. Dandavate and Pramila ji when she met them at her professor’s house. Dr. Cherian recalls how a JNU student, as was the tradition in the campus, questioned Dandavate on his khadi wear. The student felt that wearing khadi did not mean simplicity; it could also mean that Dandavate could afford it as one of the elites in the society. Prof. Dandavate patiently explained that khadi was a principle for him symbolising a lot of things – self-sufficiency, sustainability, ecological protection among other things. His desire to be austere was not an affectation, but a cherished value he imbibed from great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi,
Jayaprakash Narayan and Acharya Kriplani.
A former RSS insider and an ABVP member remembers Prof. Dandavate as he is mortally afraid of “far right fanatics destroying the largest democracy in the world”. Partha Bannerjee has moved away from RSS and ABVP since long because of his deep-routed commitment to equality and justice. He is, in a sense, happy that Prof. Dandavate did not live to see this nightmare unfolding in Indian politics. Echoing this sentiment, Uday puts it slightly differently. He says, “I have no doubt that if Prof. Dandavate and Pramila Dandavate were alive today, they would either be languishing in prison, branded as urban naxals or leading a fight for the preservation of our secular and democratic constitution”.
Two journalists, Sabina Inderjit and Venkitesh Ramakrishnan remember Dandavate from their points of view. Sabina begins her piece by suggesting that Madhu Dandavate would turn in his grave if he saw this steady decline of Parliament over the years or worse, it being reduced a mockery. Dandavate, to her and her fellow- journalists, who covered the Lok Sabha during Dandavate’s tenure from 1971 to 1991, was the most outstanding, brilliant and a dynamic Parliamentarian. Sabina, did Parliament for most of her journalist career, remembers Dandavate not missing any major debate or the Zero Hour to raise issues of public importance. He meticulously did his homework and never hesitated to question the government. Dandavate was precise on facts, figures and references. Sabina quotes Somnath Chatterjee, the Speaker, “His masterly performance as a Parliamentarian remained one of his distinguishing features of his eventful life…. his thought-provoking, analytical and scintillating speeches on diverse subjects were greatly inspiring.” Sabina concludes that Dandavate was among the few and rare politicians the country must always remember and cherish the values and standards he set.
Venkitesh, as a young left-activist came to know of Dandavate from the snippets in the circulars he was distributing during the Emergency. Dandavate was referred to as one of two Madhus and two Goreys, the brave socialist fighters from Maharashtra. Two Madhus were Madhu Dandavate and Madhu Limaye. The Goreys were the fiery woman leader Mrinal Gorey and the intellectual politician Narayan Ganesh Gorey. Venkitesh says, “Clearly, Dandavate was a legend in his own right … Dandavate belongs to a generation of politicians for whom commitment to the Indian Constitution, democracy and the values of secularism was deeply integrated with personal integrity and probity in public life.” He adds that in the current juncture when authoritarian tendencies and individual megalomania prevail, re-reading the life and times of leaders like Madhu Dandavate and emulating them s extremely relevant.

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