INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Born on September 26, 1923, had actor Dev Anand lived on, he would have turned 97 today.Dashing
Dev Anand, one of Bollywood’s most enduring legends, had a more than healthy interest in politics as well.He could be cheeky as well
In 1962, the actor, then 39, had asked Jawaharlal Nehru: “Is it true, Sir, that your devastating smile stole the heart of Lady
Mountbatten?”Dev Anand himself had a smile that left millions of hearts aflutter but the actor could present a grim visage too when
As he did one day during the Emergency.Asked to say a few words in appreciation of Sanjay Gandhi, the Youth Congress, Dev Anand refused,
responding to what he described as a “call of conscience”
Dev Anand’s films were subsequently banned from being screened on television while All India Radio (AIR) forbade any reference to his
name.When the 1977 parliamentary elections were announced, lawyer Ram Jethmalani urged Dev Anand to join the Janata Party and its campaign
against Indira Gandhi and her son, Sanjay
Caught in a dilemma, Dev Anand apparently paced up and down the garden behind his residence all night, lost in thought, before he finally
went to bed.By the time he woke up, he had made up his mind
He agreed to share the dais with Morarji Desai and Jayaprakash Narayan, whom he admired deeply, and made a short speech condemning Indira
The Janata Party experiment would, however, disillusion him soon.Dev Anand accompanied by Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh during the launch
(AFP photo)Morarji Desai resigned as the prime minister in July 1979, following internal differences and Indira Gandhi withdrew support to
the Charan Singh government, paving way for the 1980 general election.It was at this point that Dev Anand decided to “teach the
politicians a lesson” and formed his own party — the National Party of India (NPI)
He envisaged a party that would include the country’s luminaries
“If MGR could spell magic in Tamil Nadu, why not me in the whole country,” he had told his supporters, who included Jawaharlal Nehru’s
sister Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.“We felt it was time for intelligent, well-informed, well-meaning figures to represent India’s electorate
in Parliament,” Dev Anand would say later.A rally was held at Shivaji Park, the historic ground in Mumbai, then Bombay
It was Dev Anand’s belief that a packed house prompted Indira Gandhi to send him feelers, asking if he would join hands with her
The actor snubbed her again
“Joining hands with an autocrat was absolutely out of question,” said Dev Anand.On the eve of the 1980 general election, Dev Anand was
Ideas kept surging in his mind
“A giant forward leap was required to link the ancient civilisation with modern India
What if all villages are transformed into neat small towns flashing with electricity and gushing merrily with water facilities What if
English is taught to all and farmers, labourers, coolies and aristocrats move around in cars, waving at each other in a spirit of bonhomie
It was the utopian vision of (a) visionary, and I wanted to make it happen if I joined politics,” Dev Anand wrote in his autobiography,
which would be released by then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on September 26, 2007, on the actor’s 84th birthday and, coincidentally,
Singh’s 75th.Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi was also present at the event where Dev Anand hailed her, along with
Manmohan Singh, for “their capacity to take the country skywards so that it becomes an envy of the world”.The National Party of India,
with Dev Anand as its president, would, however, close shop within months when, first, Nani Palkhivala and then Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
declined to contest the Lok Sabha elections
Palkhivala, a noted jurist and economist who had attended the actor’s Shivaji Park meet, reportedly sent a message saying that while he
was open to the idea of joining the Rajya Sabha, he was reluctant to contest for a seat in the Lower House.Dev Anand with Atal Bihari
Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh
(India Today Archives)Dev Anand had prepared his party manifesto but learnt subsequently that his party colleagues had modified some of his
Moreover, there was no sign of the funds that certain affluent individuals had promised him
Even finding candidates for over 500 Lok Sabha seats proved a Herculean task.In Dev Anand’s own words, “The inertia already visible
amongst the early enthusiasts dampened my spirits And that was the end of (the) National Party
It was a great idea that was nipped in the bud.”According to Rajkumar Keswani, a Bhopal-based journalist and film historian, the Dev
Anand-led party was a well-intentioned flop
Keswani has written about it quite candidly in his article, ‘One Reel for Politics’, published in Outlook magazine in April 2014.“It
was a strange but real event in the political history of India
Dev and his colleagues in the enterprise called their party a ‘crusade’ against the corrupt politicians of the country
And the crusaders were none other than our own film folks who wanted to ‘teach a lesson’ to politicians, who they thought were a pack of
greedy fools, a motley crowd of self-seeking opportunists.”Keswani was present at a press conference held on September 14, 1979, at the
Taj in Bombay, the same venue where the actor had launched the National Party of India and released its manifesto
He had seen a huge assembly of film personalities such as V Shantaram, Ramanand Sagar, GP Sippy, Shriram Bohra, Atma Ram, IS Johar and stars
like Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Sanjeev Kumar and others, all backing Dev Anand’s party to the hilt.“Several teams were formed by
Dev and his colleagues, including his brother Vijay Anand, to draft the constitution of the party, launch a membership drive and create a
manifesto for elections,” Keswani wrote in the article.Dev Anand himself brimmed with hope and confidence
“Why not, for a change, and for the sake of the country we love, form a political party that would transform the ugly slushy shape of
things and give it a new shape as magnificent and glittering as a grand film?” were the words the actor would use in his autobiography to
describe his feelings then.Membership was not a problem
Keswani says the membership drive evoked a positive response across the country
“Everyone thought they would be in the company of stars by paying a rupee as membership fees
While releasing the party manifesto, Dev, who looked every inch an angry young man, told the media that they were launching a crusade, “a
crusade against poverty, unemployment, illiteracy and corruption
A party to promote a prosperous and growth-oriented society.”The speech, in retrospect, sounded part Narendra Modi, part Arvind Kejriwal
But it did not get much media attention at that time: it was dismissed as just another film promotion.Views are personal
Journalist Rasheed Kidwai is the author of 24 Akbar Road and Sonia A Biography.
