Feroze Gandhi would have never approved of dynasty rule in the Congress party: Bertil Falk

The Nehru-Gandhi family is able to hold on to Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats because of the work Feroze Gandhi did there, according to Swedish journalist Bertil Falk. The 84-year-old, whose book 'Feroze, The forgotten Gandhi' was published recently, tells Vasudha Venugopal that the husband of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would never have approved dynasty rule in the Congress party. Edited excerpts:

You call Feroze Gandhi an inspiration for Modern India. Why is he significant to current India?
Feroze Gandhi was the first whistle blower in India. He fought corruption within his own Congress party. His work forced a finance minister (TT Krishnamachari) to resign. From the Dalmia case to the Mundhra case and several other cases, he fought corruption vehemently. Moreover he fought for freedom of speech and press freedom. It is not easy for a private member Bill to become law in this country. Only 14 times has it happened. One of them was Feroze Gandhi's press law. When India got independence, a reporter who reported what was said in the parliament could be prosecuted. Feroze saw that and came up with a Bill to prevent that. That Bill became a law. Fifteen years after his death, his widow Indira Gandhi brought in the Emergency and one of the first things she did was to throw her husband's press law into the dustbin … What we have today is an extension of Feroze Gandhi's press law.

Apart from working towards upholding democracy always, his role in other issues was interesting. Look at the Kerala story. Indira wanted to get rid of the popularly elected communist government there. Nehru was reluctant but she got his to do that. Feroze was very angry, he called her a fascist at the breakfast table for that. After that Indira cooperated with parties that she should not have. At a congress meeting inside the parliament, Feroze Gandhi had condemned it and talked about "raising the monster and how the future was really bad." In some days he had predicted the emergency.

What was your impression of Indira Gandhi?
I met her twice and she gave me 40 minutes the first time. She was kind to me. She defended the emergency but she was not an easy person to interview. She was reluctant with replies. She had to think before giving answers. This was in contrast to how Morarji Desai spoke. He spoke freely. It was clear that Indira Gandhi did not like journalists.

What kind of a person was Feroze Gandhi?
He moved freely among the poor. If a worker in his party could not find a bride for his son he would help him. If an old lady needed medicines he saw it to she got them. While at Rae Bareli he would stay at his communist opponent's house. He was loved across party lines. He was a fantastic individual. But towards the end he was not happy. He saw too much corruption. He told people what he felt. Once in Lucknow he was with Chandrasekhar who later became the country's PM and he was smoking a lot. When someone advised him to stop he started talking about how transient life was. He was clearly disillusioned in the later years. What happened in Kerala was also a main reason for things starting to go wrong between the couple. The family did take a trip to Kashmir after that, after which in Rajiv's words, things were sorted out. Both Feroze and Indira had difference of opinion on a lot of things. Especially in bringing up children. Feroze was a strict father. He wanted his sons to learn by doing things with their own hands. Indira I suppose was more lenient. One of the things she admired about Feroze was his gardening skills. Feroze had a natural ability to grow plants.

Do you think the congress party would have been different if Feroze wasn't sidelined?
I think Feroze would have never approved of dynasty rule in the party. He was totally against what Indira or Sanjay were doing. There is a theory that that it was possible that he could have been the PM of the country. It is disputable but think of this - If Feroze had lived and had Lal Bahadur Shastri not died a premature death and continued, it is possible he might have chosen him. Shastri was very close to Feroze and he was extremely fond of him. It is interesting to see how the family has spread to the BJP as well. If Sanjay Gandhi was alive may be Varun Gandhi would have gotten what Rahul has.

Who in the present Nehru- Gandhi parivar do you think is closest to Feroze in terms of promise and potential?
No one. I don't think any of the present family members even know much about Feroze. Though I am told Varun has read about him. Priyanka is a fine campaigner. Rahul, it seems to me, works hard but he is in a difficult position. He was born into that difficult position. They owe a lot to Feroze Gandhi. The reason they are still holding on to places such as Rae Bareli and Amethi is because of Feroze Gandhi, because of the work he did there. He was very popular there. Indira Gandhi herself campaigned for him when he first fought from Rae Bareli. She followed a lot of what he did.