I was late for Amar Singh’s party. Having declined so many offers from him to join his other party, the Samajwadi Party, I realised that I should not disappoint him again.Amar Singh had reason to be upset with me. I just wasn’t prepared for the kind of sacrifices he had to make before he became an important party functionary. ‘‘Are you prepared to make sacrifices like Acharya Narendra Deo and Jayprakash Narayan to root out corruption,’’ he had asked me several years ago. Having always believed that corruption is an international phenomenon, I realised that I did not have the moral courage to stand up against corruption.The guest of honour this time, Lalit Suri, another distinguished entrant to the hallowed institution of the Rajya Sabha, was gyrating in the well-decorated discotheque. Music was blasting from a 50,000 watt system, it was pitch dark despite the strobe lights. I nearly stumbled into another guest, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. Mike in hand, he was doing a solo, swinging to the tune of Dil dekhe dekho. ‘‘Farooq sahib,’’ I asked, ‘‘what next in Kashmir?’’He was now doing the samba. ‘‘I guess I will resume my golf in Delhi although there’s nothing like my Srinagar course. Of course I missed these parties when I was chief minister, but my family is known for its spirit of sacrifice. Imagine missing golf to become a chief minister! For further sacrifices,I would rather ask Omar to take over. I think I have done enough already. Just imagine, the caddies in the golf course had almost forgotten me.’’Meanwhile Amar Singh, who was now doing a bhangra, also join the fray. I asked for an interview. ‘‘Talk as I dance,’’ he said, holding Lalit Suri’s hand. I was compelled to keep pace and managed ask a few questions on the alleged role of money power in the Samajwadi Party. ‘‘We are a party of the poor by the poor for the poor and we are against power hungry parties like Mayawati’s BSP which is throwing money all around and bribing everyone from other parties,’’ was the reply.I thought of the Ram Manohar Lohias of the world and asked him about his humble beginnings. ‘‘I was a humble man. I worked my way up . And if you’ll excuse me, I must dance to another number, one of my favorites sung by Amitji himself along with my sister Jayaji, I will be joined by my brother Lalit Suriji. The song is a favourite of my uncle Yashji and mentor Mulayamji.’’Lalit Suri saw nothing wrong in the fact that he was once a friend of Rajiv Gandhi of the Congress Party and was now a bosom pal of the Samajwadi Party. ‘‘I’m used to this,’’ he explained, ‘‘Everyday there is some party or the other. I attend all of them. So what’s wrong if it’s the Congress on one day and the BJP on another?’’ ‘‘Why was poor Suresh Nanda, that selfless businessman, not allowed to become a Rajya Sabha member? Poor chap, he was badly beaten up.’’ I commented.‘‘You have to make sacrifices,’’ butted in Vijay Mallya as he got out of his custombuilt BMW, ‘‘What does Suresh Nanda know about sacrifice? Ask me. I decided to join politics only because you, the media, wanted good men to be in politics.’’Write to rajusanthanam@expressindia.com
