Subramanian Swamy enters Parliament (Rajya Sabha) after 17 years. Expect Fireworks.

[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]A[/dropcap]fter 17 years, breaking all the barriers of Lutyens Delhi, the irrepressible Subramanian Swamy is entering Parliament on Monday, the 25th of April. To say that there will be fireworks is an understatement. If Rajya Sabha TV were a private entity that traded in the stock market, its value would have shot up on the news that Dr. Swamy was being nominated to the upper house.



Swamy first entered Rajya Sabha in 1974 as a Jan Sangh MP. His first question in the house was to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on how General Insurance allotted an Agency to her Italian daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi. Insurance Agency allotment was only for Indian citizens and it was a clear cut violation. Continuing his charges, Swamy brought out documents showing most of the vehicles of Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and other government offices were insured through Italian daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi’s Insurance Agency and thus it was also a violation of FERA.

…Swamy knows how to tackle the enemies and will change the chemistry and power equations in Rajya Sabha.

Hearing the question Indira Gandhi lost her temper and the ruling Congress MPs created hell in the House leading to an adjournment. But the next day, Indira Gandhi admitted that Sonia “made a mistake” by applying for an Insurance Agency(!) and had cancelled on previous day evening itself after Swamy’s pointed out the error. This was perhaps an implicit admission on part of the Prime Minister that the case was water tight and there was no way out. While his opponents never tire of saying that he is a maverick and can’t be trusted, history has proved that once Swamy trains his guns on an issue, he is seldom wrong.



Swamy became a National hero by dramatically entering and exiting the Parliament during Emergency days, challenging Indira Gandhi. Swamy had gone abroad under the instructions of leader Jayaprakash Narayan to campaign in foreign countries against Emergency in India. He was routinely conducting press conferences, seminars from different countries against Indira and her murder of democracy. Those days the entire machinery was put out to arrest Swamy as soon as he lands in India. But Swamy had a trick up his sleeve.



[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]S[/dropcap]wamy landed in India from the USA and walked off through Delhi Airport from a plane bound for Bangkok in the early hours of the morning. He booked his ticket to Thailand and exited in Delhi. As his ticket was to Bangkok, the flight passenger chart (also called manifest) did not show his name along with others passengers deplaning in Delhi. The sleepy duty policemen saluted Swamy as he flashed his Parliament pass and walked by. The fact that Swamy was not carrying any baggage perhaps fooled the Policeman into thinking that this was a VIP visiting the airport.



He then disguised himself as a Sikh and entered his home as a TV repairman, fooling Delhi Police. After staying for a few days he made a dramatic entry into the Parliament on August 10th, 1976. The Vice President B D Jatti was making a speech listing all the members who had died. Swamy intervened and asked the chair to add the death of democracy too, to the list. Before the watch and ward staff could react, he vanished through the corridors of Parliament. The RSS had arranged several smart boys to escort Swamy as he exited India via Nepal through Mumbai and Gujarat. In Gujarat, Narendra Modi was the young man deputed by RSS to assist the fugitive Swamy.



Swamy was elected twice from Mumbai North East to the Lok Sabha (1977 and 1980) and once to the Rajya Sabha. His fifth entry to Parliament was from hometown Madurai to the Lok Sabha in 1998. After the collapse of Vajpayee Government in October 1999, Swamy, the key architect of the collapse faced a setback in his political career. In 1999 Lok Sabha elections he lost from Madurai, as he could not manage support from the Dravidian parties. That period onwards Swamy gained the animosity of Vajpayee to Sonia Gandhi. His relations with Right Wing politics touched a low and he was lost from limelight.



In 2005, the Sangh Parivar and Swamy patched up. It was the RSS Chief Sudarshan who sent Ram Madhav as an emissary to Swamy’s home. But his enemies in BJP were not in a mood to settle. The anti-corruption wave in the country in 2011 became the rallying point as RSS was uniting all like-minded people, leading to Swamy joining BJP in mid-2013. Due to his enemies inside the BJP (whom Swamy refers to in Twitter as Shakuni) Swamy’s entry into Parliament was blocked at least four times in the past three years.



[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]N[/dropcap]ow, like the ‘Return of the Dragon’, Swamy is entering into Parliament through Rajya Sabha. From his comments on Twitter, it is easily seen that he would not spare Sonia Gandhi. Now it would be fun to watch Rajya Sabha TV.



In the midst of all the UPA related scandals such as National Herald, Aircel-Maxis, Jet-Etihad deal, Sunanda’s murder etc., Swamy has unearthed a new one, about a Pakistani lady called Farida Ataullah. According to Swamy, this lady is closely connected to ISI and is based in Sharjah. Farida is a close friend of Sonia Gandhi. She has been travelling frequently to Delhi for the past 45 years and was a major presence at the Priyanka – Robert Vadra wedding. We will have to wait and see what documents and dossiers Swamy is going to produce in the Parliament on this.



He will not hesitate to use the Parliamentary forum to raise questions, interventions, and jump into debates against Sonia, Rahul, P Chidambaram, and family. One thing is sure – Swamy knows how to tackle the enemies and will change the chemistry and power equations in Rajya Sabha. The last bastion currently controlled by Congress and Left is under serious threat. Coming days are going to be full of fun and fire in Rajya Sabha with BJP shifting gears from low to high.