Vikram Poonia

A new book on Partap Singh Kairon that hit the stands recently reminded me of the tales about him that I had heard from my maternal grandfather Chaudhary Rizaq Ram, who had an affable association with the popular chief minister of Punjab.

The first and foremost lore that came to my mind was that it was Sardar Sahab, aka Kairon, who pitched for him to be included in the new cabinet of Comrade Ram Kishan, who took over as the CM of joint Punjab after he resigned and made sure that he was sworn in as the Irrigation and Power Minister.

So immediately after taking over as minister, my grandfather visited Kairon village that later came under Tarn Taran district. On that day, Kairon had gone to take a round of his farms near his village and so grandfather also walked down to the fields to meet and thank him for his support.

Apparently in 1962, when Kairon was the Chief Minister and he an MLA from Rai, Kairon had got the water distribution plan devised by him which came to be known as the Rizaq Ram Water Distribution Plan for the chanelling of river waters of Punjab in all the regions of the then undivided state comprising present-day Haryana as well as Himachal Pradesh.

The plan had won praise, pitched even as a basis for solving the intractable Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal imbroglio that has been lingering for decades. Political stances may today prevent revisiting of the plan to formulate a way forward by going back to the pre-reorganisation stage, pooling all the water resources and then redistributing them to the different command areas. Dispute over river waters is only natural, but it should be so resolved that the interests of the people are protected without giving rise to unseemly controversies.

The assassination of Kairon at Rai in Sonepat district also became another focal point of their association, completing its course in a tragic manner. My grandfather was representing Rai in joint Punjab when Kairon was slain near Rasoi village which falls in this constituency. Almost the entire Kairon family had descended on the Sonepat residence of my grandfather, who later accompanied the mortal remains of the leader to his native village.

I also remember having been told that Kairon was the inspiration in his political life and that his untimely loss had been a huge personal setback for him.