Team News Riveting
Motilal Vora was in the league of a select band of Congress leaders who avoided sharing a secret even with spouse and children.
The veteran Congress leader passed away in Delhi on Monday, a day after he celebrated his 93rd birthday. He had recovered from Covid-19 in October and was admitted to Delhi’s Escorts Hospital after he complained of breathlessness on December 19.
For him, loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi family was absolute and non-negotiable. AICC’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi has lost a faithful who, like Ahmed Patel, knew the most guarded secrets of the grand old party – how money comes and goes.
He knew the identity of every faceless donor the Congress had. Until last month, Patel and Vora had the joint authority to sign bank cheques at 24, Akbar Road. Before slipping into a coma, one of the last full telephonic conversations Patel is said to have had was with Vora.
The discussion reportedly revolved around the money matters. Vora, who served as AICC treasurer for nearly 18 years, could have passed on some sensitive information, contacts and resources to Patel’s successor Pawan Bansal.
Those who knew Congress veteran and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Motilal Vora, who breathed his last on Monday, remember him as someone for whom the Congress was not a political party but the very purpose of his life.
One commentator rightly said that he was one of the most important pillars of the old Congress generation. He lived for the Congress and he was ready to die for the Congress.
It is not known to many that Vora started his career as a reporter with Hindi daily Navbharat – one of the most influential newspapers of central India. He was famous among his journalist friends for not using notepads. He was gifted with such a photographic memory that even at the age of 90 he could vividly recall minutes of three decades old meetings. With tea and biscuits, he would share stories of his journalism days with reporters at his room at AICC headquarters.
Born in Rajasthan, Vora received his education in Kolkata during the time of British rule. In search of a job and better life, his father migrated from Rajasthan to present day Chhattisgarh which was then part of the undivided Madhya Pradesh.
Vora started his political career with Socialist Party in the 1960s. After meeting D P Mishra, a Congress stalwart at the time, Vora joined the Congress in 1970s and remained with the party till his last.
Vora’s stature grew in the party under the leadership of Indira Gandhi. He served as a minister in the Arjun Singh government as an MP in the 1980s. 13 years later, he himself became the Chief Minister of the state.
He also served as Governor of Uttar Pradesh from 1998-99, before being elected to the Lok Sabha in 2002.
