I
remained a faceless diplomat for more than 35 years before my retirement from
IFS in December, 2010. I decided in the beginning of 2003 to come back from
Delhi to my roots in Jalandhar with a view to integrate myself with the
community and repay the debt of
 |
| Ambassador Ramesh Chander speaking at DAV College, Jalandhar |
gratitude I owe to the society in a humble way.
In the process of my settling down, I chose to associate with the education
sector to begin with. Sant Baba Bhag Singh University was gracious enough to
nominate me on its Board of Governors. I
ventured to start an educational outfit – Jalandhar School of Careers and
Opportunities to benefit the children of my native place Bootan Mandi and nearby
localities. Given my background and interest, Doordarshan Jalandhar provided me
a window to reach out to the wider audiences through its various programmes to
which they invite me occasionally. Some of the leading schools and colleges in
and around Jalandhar associated me with their activities and invited me to
speak at various functions. I associated myself with the community functions,
particularly pertaining to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Guru Ravidassji, to satisfy my
social yearnings. These activities kept me busy as my post retirement
engagement which, in a lighter vein, I termed as my ‘Second Innings'.
Some of my friends and also my immediate family, my
brothers and sisters, have been suggesting me to join public life and share my
wide experience with the society. But I remained reluctant because of my
perceived temperament and training. Would I be able to withstand the dust and
din of politics? Would I be able to go thick skinned, said to be an important
attribute of a politician? Do I have the needed ‘killing instinct’ which a
politician generally uses to deal with his adversaries? The increasing role of
money, with my own scarce finances, in politics always remained a concern with
me. But as an enlightened citizen, I remained fully live and informed of the
changing political scenario, of late. Over the last three years or so, the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) under the leadership
of Arvind Kejriwal has thrown open some
new avenues and opportunities on the political firmament of the country. It
started from the core issue of corruption which has eaten the vitals of the
polity and society at large. The AAP opted for clean and transparent politics. It
negated the VIP culture from which the common man on the road was suffering. It
supports and pleads for social justice, as enshrined in the constitution, for
empowerment of the weaker sections of the society. Above all, the AAP stands
for power to the people as stipulated in the preamble of the constitution with
a view to establish ‘Swaraj’ and an egalitarian society. I thought, perhaps,
the time has become. The AAP, a party with a difference, appealed to me. It has
come but is yet to reach. I seriously pondered over all these points.
Meanwhile, my well wishers have been cajoling me to take a plunge into politics
and join the AAP, an emerging party on the political landscape of India.
Sometime in January, 2016, I did not tell anybody and enrolled myself online
and became a member of the AAP. I sent an E-mail message to the Convener of the
AAP, Arvind Kejriwal and to the Central Observer, Sanjay Singh and solicited
their advice on making my joining the party public at an appropriate occasion
and requested for an introductory and courtesy call on them during their next
visit to Jalandhar. I waited for a response for a couple of weeks. There was no
response which worried me a bit as I was sure that the AAP would respond and
behave differently. In the second week of February, 2016, I took the liberty of
writing again and requested for a suitable response. I also told them that I
was a political novice and it was my maiden entry into public life. I also told
them that I did not know anybody of the AAP leadership in Jalandhar. There was
a quick reply by E-mail on February 21 from the AAP headquarters, to my
satisfaction, telling me “Dear Rameshji Please give us some time. Our team will be in touch
with you”. The
process of my joining the AAP formally began with a telephone call from Delhi,
on the evening of February 22, welcoming me into the AAP fold and advising the
party leadership in Jalandhar to get in touch with me to make a formal
announcement in this regard. The Central Zonal Observer, Rajiv Choudhary contacted
me and we met on February 23 and decided to go ahead. Accordingly, my joining
the AAP was formalized at a joint press conference at the Jalandhar Press Club
on February 24, 2016 in the presence of Rajiv Choudhary and Dr. H.S. Cheema,
Zonal Observer and other senior functionaries and volunteers of the AAP. Both
Choudhary Sahib and Dr. Cheema offered me the AAP robe of honour and welcomed
me to the party.
 |
| At the Press Conference on February 22, 2016 |
The Press Release issued at the press conference has been
appended below. My journey from a faceless diplomat to a humble politician
started in all earnestness. The local media, both print and electronic, took a
good note of it. Almost all the daily newspapers being published from Jalandhar
covered the event in the February 25 editions. I was flooded with
congratulatory messages and calls from the cross sections of the society. The
news became viral on my Facebook page. I was touched by the encouraging
response and all the good wishes of my friends. I found Rajiv Choudhary, a
young but mature political guide, friendly and caring. All the party managers
and volunteers were very helpful and courteous. I was humbled further. Now, I
am fully dedicated and committed to serve the society, particularly the weaker
sections, under the banner of the AAP and able stewardship of my leader Arvind
Kejriwal and the party hierarchy.
After
my joining the party on February 24, my first brief and informal exposure came
on February 28 at Hon’ble Arvind Kejriwal’s meeting with businessmen at
Jalandhar. I bumped into and registered myself with Sucha Singh Chhotepur,
Convener of the AAP in Punjab, Hon’ble MP Sadhu Singh and the AAP Spokesman
Sukhpal Singh Khaira. It was also good to sit and talk with my friend Sat Paul
Ahir, Retired Income Tax Commissioner who has also joined the AAP recently. I
am to meet more people in the coming days to pick up the threads and educate
myself to meet the challenges of my second innings as a politician. I will do
my best and the rest is destiny. I firmly believe in this shabad from the Gurbani:
ਨੀਚੋਂ ਉਚ ਕਰੇ ਮੇਰਾ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ;
ਕਾਹੁ ਤੇ ਨਾ ਡਰੇ!
Tailpiece:
Some
random comments on my Facebook timeline:
· “Very
interesting Bhaisaheb. I hope you have a strong conviction and thick skin for
this politics business. I am glad that you would continue to cooperate with and
contribute to society. I am actually happy for you and trust you would get your
word out.
I would be curious to know what would be your take on AAP Party's stand on
reservations to be given on the basis of financial status rather than caste,
and most importantly get rid of creamy layers from reservation category for
dalits and OBCs...
I believe an educated and scholarly perspective from you would be looked at by
masses.
Good Luck to you.”
·
“People like you are the need of hour in today's crisis
ridden politics.”
·
“Wishing you all the best in achieving your
lofty ideals. Don't forget the deprived sections of the society. They need all
our attention as you well know.”
· “Congratulations Sir. I know of you as a very good person with pleasing
manners and helpful tendency. I hope you will succeed in serving the society.”
Appendix:
party i.e. the AAP will provide a desired place
and space to well meaning people to join hands to work for much needed
development and well-being of the common man of the country through good
administration and governance. It is gratifying to note that the AAP and its
volunteers, workers and supporters are fully involved and dedicated to meet the
challenges and deliver to the benefit and advantage of the Aam Aadmi. Let us
wish them all success in the years to come.
oneself by pushing
others. Most of the slogan-shouting politicians are not necessarily committed
and even knowledgeable. To remain
visible and in the news is yet another trait which the politicians tend to
cultivate with an added zeal. One has to
be thick skinned to survive in public life. I am reminded of an anecdote from
the autobiography of EAM K. Natwar Singh when PM Indira Gandhi advised him, in
a lighter vein, at his joining the public life, to become thick skinned rather
than changing to khadi attire. These are some of my random thoughts at this
initial stage. I have joined politics with a clear conviction to serve the
society, particularly the weaker sections, honestly and diligently. I want to
be a politician with a difference as my party AAP rightly claims to be a party
with a difference. Though I am yet to know and interact with the bosses and
leadership at the higher echelons of the party yet, at the functional level, I
have found all of them very cooperative and accommodative. The AAP volunteers
are the real force and are the backbone of the party. I am open to listen and
learn in the process. 
