Mobilising the masses was his forte

Devi Lal knew at least a few persons by name in every village he toured. He maintained a rapport with many of them till he breathed his last. This rare quality that enabled him to mingle with the common man made him popular and gave birth to the slogan — Lok raj laaj se chalta hai, says Jatinder Sharma.

THE most outstanding tribute one can pay to the maverick Tau is to realise the unflinching faith he had in masses which could be mobilised to achieve the impossible, says CPM state secretary Inderjit Singh. One could differ from him ideologically, but no one could undermine the significance of mass struggles that Devi Lal led and advocated all through his political career.

Devi Lal knew at least a few persons by name in every village he toured. He maintained a rapport with many of them till he breathed his last. This rare quality that enabled him to mingle with the common man made him popular and gave birth to the slogan — Lok raj laaj se chalta hai.

When he launched the Nyaya Yudh agitation in 1985 to protest against the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, he felt that the BBC was the only broadcasting network that could be relied upon. He advised his supporters to listen to the BBC for true information for, he said, "All India Radio toh jhooth bolta hai." As regards the print media, Tau used to tell his supporters that it was owned by big industrialists. Hence, most newspapers looked after the interests of their respective owners .

Devi Lal, no doubt, was involved in political controversies for his role in making and breaking parties and alliances but he could never be decimated despite facing some crushing electoral defeats. That he could re-emerge even after facing a defeat as Deputy Prime Minister in his selected parliamentary constituency at the hands of a political novice, was due to the fact that he always remained in touch with the people. He could feel the pulse of the people with amazing precision.

Devi Lal will always be remembered in political circles as a ‘social engineer’, for he not only managed to balance caste permutations and combinations but also successfully brought together different political parties like the CPM, CPI, BJP and the Congress (O) to serve a common cause.

Devi Lal began to be referred to as Tau by the masses after a cartoon titled Tau Bolya was introduced by Dainik Tribune during the Nyaya Yudh protest rallies. Devi Lal often quoted the messages depicted in this cartoon to drive home a point while addressing the public.

Devi Lal had a passion for the rural lifestyle. He used to stop at roadside dhabas for tea or meals, whenever he toured the countryside. He did not change his style even after becoming the Deputy Prime Minister.

Once as Chief Minister of Haryana, he was on a visit to Madhya Pradesh and in his typical style, he asked the driver to stop the car at a roadside dhaba. He got down from the car and walked up to the dhaba owner to enquire about the dishes he had prepared. "Do you have karhi", he asked. When the dhaba owner replied in the affirmative, Tau occupied a chair and ordered lunch.

When the protocol officer of the Madhya Pradesh Government told Devi Lal that the arrangement for the lunch was at a rest house about a kilometre away, Tau said he would take his lunch at the dhaba and advised him to take the persons accompanying him for lunch at the rest house. This simple style of living earned Tau the love, affection and confidence of the common man.