"RAJA JI"-INDIA'S NOSTRADAMUS

 

THE FIRST & LAST GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA WHO SAW TOMORROW !

Born at Thorapalli in Salem District of Tamilnadu, Bharat Ratna Chakravarti Rajagopalachari famous as 'RAJA JI' & 'CR' was a man of exceptional qualities of head & heart.An outstanding personality possessing impeccable character & integrity, CR was an advocate who started his innings extremely well.He came under influence of Gandhi & later Nehru & became an independence activist.A statesman of unparalleled & inimitable intellect & vision , he was also known as the 'Mango of Salem'.In the pre & post independence periods , he had the singular distinction of becoming Premier of Madras,CM of Madras,Minister in the Interim Government , Governor of West Bengal & Minister of Home Affairs.

Gandhi very often talked about him as " MY KEEPER OF CONSCIENCE".

Consequent to departure of Mountbatten to attend marriage of Princess Elizabeth to his nephew Prince Philip,a need arose to replace him with a Governor General.The panel sent to Mountbatten by Nehru although showed Patel as Number 1 with CR as Number 2, it was Nehru's proximity with Mountbatten that Patel's name was dropped & CR became the FIRST & THE LAST GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA ( 21 June 1948-26 Jan 1950).

In the meantime Indian Constitution was being drafted & it took little less than 3 years prior to it's adoption.It was never an original document as it contained quite a few inputs from the then worlds constitutions.It was an extremely voluminous document- perhaps the biggest constitution any country has adopted till date !

CR being the Governor General asked for the draft.He took a couple of days to go through it.Having perused the draft, he called for an indoor meeting of all political leaders.Prominent amongst those present were Nehru,Patel,Malauna AK Azad,Sarojini Naidu,GB Pant,Kriplani & Shastri. BR Ambedkar with his Team was also there to clarify any aspect of drafted constitution.

CR said " Gentlemen. I have perused the draft Constitution in details.It is easily a marvel & a lot of dedicated,hard & strenuous work has gone into it. It is a quality yet  voluminous document  containing the very best that can be offered  to a free citizen of India. But, having been slaves for centuries to various powers , I wonder whether we are today in an appropriate frame of mind ,or possess suitable  education,attitude , self esteem & understanding to realize & grasp our basic responsibilities as a citizen towards parliamentary democracy & the constitution as it exists &  be worthy of it in the manner enshrined in this great document.We may, perhaps,therefore, like to insert certain checks & balances in the form of some controls which may exist for say 10-15 years & then only we may adopt the constitution in its present form. Inter alia, he also hinted towards defining certain mandatory qualifications for those who may contest as representatives of people in Parliament/State Assemblies.

" However,we must adopt the constitution -and we must do so the soonest - but with certain provisions inserted therein .It shall enable us to discipline  ourselves & thus build  much needed National Culture,Ethos & Pride.You may like to think about it.".

In the second meeting that took place after 4-5 days, the leaders did not agree with the suggestions made by CR.They were euphoric & ecstatic . They obviously did not possess the vision that the  First & the Last Governor General of India had !

The results are to be seen today !Had the Netas of those days listened to the Nostradamus of India,India would have been a much better place to live & work together.

CR wanted to stand for Presidential election.He withdrew because of stiff opposition of some Congress leaders of North India.

Patel had also fallen with Nehru & had even resigned.Later he withdrew it.CR was a buffer between Nehru & Patel.Patel had died soon after.Serious differences had developed between Nehru & Patel.CR too was affected from this sympathetic detonation !

As a result ,CR resigned from INC.He formed Swatantra Party & the rest is history.

RAJA JI was India's NOSTRADAMUS who had seen tomorrow.

It takes centuries to produce a person of CR's calibre & brilliance.May his soul rest in peace.

(I vividly recall my Grandpa telling me the above incident.He was a year senior to Bharat Ratna GB Pant.They had studied together for years & were good friends)