Before the last General Election, when Kalyan Singh rejoined BJP, while addressing the Press in an emotionally charged voice, he declared that he had come back to the party because he wished to make his final journey wrapped in the party flag. But the same Kalyan Singh deserted the party for a Lok Sabha ticket for his son from Bulandshahr.

For decades Kalyan Singh had been a towering personality. He became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh twice. He was then known for his honesty. Once a highly placed representative of a big industrial house went to his residence with a large amount of money. Kalyan Singh rebuked him and said, "If you want to give money to the party, we have a well-known and well-established system and you need to follow that." In his second tenure as Chief Minister, Kalyan was no longer the same person. Values started eroding. The UP Cabinet allotted a piece of land to a Trust headed by his son Rajbir Singh. A loyal secretary gathered the courage to point out to Kalyan that the allotment would be a blemish on his otherwise clean career. He prided himself for his honesty and freedom from favouritism. The secretary's remark moved him. Rajbir withdrew his application and the allotment was cancelled.

He had been a mass leader for decades. The party projected him as a national leader but he reduced himself to a small caste leader. His grouse was that after his second coming, the party humiliated and marginalised him. Before coming back to party he had shown a duly ticked list of Lok Sabha seats, which the party would surely win (if he comes). Even with managers like the late Pramod Mahajan, the party could win hardly 10 seats. In the Assembly polls, he was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate and the party could retain barely 50 per cent of its earlier Assembly strength. He lost his sheen. In the last Assembly elections even his son lost from Dibai, his home constituency.

Kalyan was given all opportunities to regain his stature. He stubbornly insisted for a particular person as State party president, in spite of well-meaning advice on the contrary from many leaders.

Further, he insisted for a Rajya Sabha seat for his colleague Kusum Rai and the party agreed to that too. The same attitude prevailed for the Bulandshahr Lok Sabha seat for his son. However, the party had to put an end to his appetite.

Leaders must have certain qualities. They must have vision and they must create trusted lieutenants to implement their vision in a planned and phased manner. Crises management is yet another area where a leader should possess special skills. He has to select targets and sub-targets. He must communicate his vision to colleagues, workers, opponents and people at large. He must keep his credibility intact. Credibility is the most important ingredient of image. A leader who tells lies cannot be trusted. A person like Kalyan Singh amply displays this phenomenon, that is why BJP leaders dealing with Kalyan Singh in his talks asked him what the guarantee was that he would not come up with more demands.

The crisis of leadership has crept into the entire political system. If we look at various parties and their leaders, one can see a vivid scenario. There are some leaders who earn trust due to clannish and dynastic hierarchy. There are others who get it because somebody high and mighty nominated them. Some are caste leaders who consider their caste-men as their fiefdom and manage it.

There is one dynastic party, which is run by nomination of office-bearers. Nominated leaders can, at best, achieve positional heights that last as long as the nominated position remains. Generally, such leaders do not inspire. But the real leaders have intrinsic greatness. Time and again they prove their mettle. Merely their presence inspires. They generally have courage of conviction. They are clear-headed. They deliver what they promise. They never compromise on principles and yet they are elastic.

On the success scale, in the latter part of the last century, in the international arena there are two shining personalities - Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Charles De Gaulle of France. Both achieved glorious success at an old age.

Age may be important but what is more important is trustworthiness, agility of mind and body, steel-like determination, vision, proven leadership qualities, quality of turning crises situation into an opportunity and radiant inspirational personality. Only this type of leader can change the destiny of the nation. You can find a couple of good leaders among Chief Ministers in the country. At the Central level, only L K Advani fits the bill. It may sound too harsh a judgment but, since Independence, no Prime Minister could be said to have measured to lofty destiny of our motherland called India.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, January 25, 2009