Pramod Mahajan: More than a catalyst to IT industry

With the demise of Pramod Mahajan, who succumbed to bullet injuries today at the PD Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, India has lost a man who was more than a catalyst to the growth of the Indian IT industry. For the former IT minister of India, IT was neither a fashion nor a passion, but a mission to make India a dominant global player. With the aim of taking IT to the masses, Mahajan was instrumental in tabling the IT Act 2000, which enabled India go into the 'e' mode.



Mahajan, who was named the DataQuest Man of the Year 2001, hailed from Maharashtra and was once considered close to the BJP leader LK Advani. Sometime back, he shifted his allegiance to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also called him 'Laxman', the younger brother of Rama. In no time he raised the sails of his ministry to the gutsy winds that were blowing during those times and reaped good speed.



Fifty-six-year-old Mahajan was battling for life since April 22 when his younger brother Pravin allegedly shot him from point blank range. Mahajan's liver, pancreas and intestine were damaged in the attack.



When Mahajan was appointed Minister for IT, the late Dewang Mehta, founder president of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) had commented, “Now we have the right person at the helm. We should be really happy.”



Mahajan began his career as a teacher in a rural district of Maharashtra, went on to take center stage in Indian politics. When the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power, there was some friction between Ram Vilas Paswan and Mahajan. Paswan was then holding the communication portfolio. There was a visible tug-of-war between an expansionist Mahajan who wanted the communications ministry and the IT ministry to be merged, while a socialist Paswan who sunbathed in the telecom revolution resisted.



Mahajan succeeded in merging IT and communication portfolios and retaining the expanded ministry. He also got through the Convergence Bill, which spelt out keystone policies regarding Internet telephony.



His biggest credit to date is his role in getting MediaAsia Labs to India, beating several contenders in Asia including China. Few people also remember that he worked towards removing bureaucracy from the policy.



“Roti, kapda, makaan aur Internet,” was his favorite slogan, which he picked up from his friend Dewang Mehta. He became the mascot for India's ambition of becoming a software super power. When the rest of the world reeled under a tech backlash, Mahajan picked a leaf out of his friend Mehta's book and kept the flag of optimism flying high.



For the IT industry that loves to say, “We grew despite the government,” Mahajan was merely a catalyst. He was a strong votary of government spending in e-governance and had promised funds for all states. He was very technology savvy as well, during his days as the IT minister, he would proudly hand you his visiting card, that was a small CDROM, which had complete information on him. He was very excited about the future of smart cards that carried complete information of an individual. Mahajan was pushing for a three per cent government budgetary allocation for e-governance projects.



However, Mahajan's impressions were deeper in the communication industry. The standoff between the first TRAI panel and himself and the subsequent reconstitution of TRAI is legendary. He was about to cross paths yet again with TRAI this time with the interconnect charges imbroglio. He mooted the idea of merging BSNL and MTNL thereby sending a shock wave in a fissured telecom industry.



Mahajan also locked horns with basic operators on the issue of extending services to villages. He was also pushing for a 74 percent FDI in telecom in the place of 24 percent.



Just when everything was looking great for Mahajan, the first blow came in the form of the murder case of a woman journalist in Delhi, in which his name was dragged in to. The shadow was too deep. Later, came the battle with cellular operators and the basic operators on WLL-Cell interconnect charges.



Mahajan was seen backing the cause of the basic service providers. Some in the industry also accused him of hobnobbing with Reliance when its Infocomm services set the sector on fire.



Mahajan was a shrewd politician. How can one forget the picture of a cell phone toting Mahajan promising people that BJP will get enough support during Vajpayee's 13-day government saga. During the 13-day first BJP ministry at the center, he was credited with managing to get sizeable MPs to pledge their loyalties to the BJP-led government then.



For BJP, a suave, media friendly, witty, measured Mahajan was a boon in the field than in the South Block. He was never a mass-based leader. At the last go he had lost the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai, much to the embarrassment of BJP. But that did not deter him. He was also the first one to own up the fall of the BJP, the 'India Shining' campaign was his brainchild.



Later, he helped BJP pocket Rajasthan. He was the 'healthy' face of the BJP, a party whose most of the senior leaders were in the grip of many ailments. And his stars in the party were on the ascendancy; he had successfully campaigned in Assam for over six months. While the other leaders in the party were on the wane, he seemed to be the man for all seasons.



But then, death came in the form of three bullets shot by his younger brother, cutting short the life of man who rose from rags to riches — who could have otherwise even gone on to become the prime minister of India.



(With inputs from Shashwat Chaturvedi in Mumbai)