Bahuguna was not the only leader who gave credit to Vora for achieving high positions in politics. During the UPA rule, many ministers felt that they could get a place in the cabinet only because of Vora. When Charan Das Mahant became the Minister of State in July 2011, he was seen paying obeisance to Vora. Vora, who was AICC treasurer at that time, gently picked him up and said, ‘Thank God, thank Sonia ji.’ I have no role in this.
Even after reaching any position in politics, the quality of humility is considered very rare, but this humility, courtesy and dignity were the biggest qualities of Vora. Despite holding many important positions like Chief Minister, Union Minister, Governor, Madhya Pradesh Congress Chief or AICC Treasurer, Vora never lost his sense of ego. This is the reason why Vora was remembered as a humble and sensitive administrator in the special session called on Wednesday, 17 December this week, on the occasion of completion of 69 years of Madhya Pradesh Assembly.
Did not forget to interrupt the person leaving the tea…
This feeling of humility was also reflected in his behavior. Hot tea was served to every visitor who came to meet him. Due to this tradition, sometimes the schedule of his meetings got disturbed. Then an arrangement was made that a boy from the AICC canteen was asked to be always present in his office with a thermos, cup and plate filled with tea. This boy would serve tea to the visitors as soon as they arrived. Often, by the time tea was over, the meeting would also be over. There is also an interesting incident related to this. This is from the 1990s. Once a man, who was not mentally healthy, entered inside Priyanka’s office, claiming to be her husband. Vora waited for the man to finish his tea and instead of summoning the security guard, bid him farewell after saying hello. Vora did not miss politely interrupting those who left tea in the cup. He used to say smilingly, ‘This costs money. Tea costs eight rupees. In fact, he always insisted that nothing should be wasted.
That chair was only for ‘Babuji’!
From 2004 to 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power at the Centre, the telephone calls and verbal messages of Vora and another senior party leader, Ahmed Patel, were given more importance in the corridors of power than those of cabinet ministers or the Prime Minister’s Office. At that time the office located at 15 Gurdwara Rakabganj Marg used to work as a war room for Congress. There was a chair kept for Vora in the mini conference room of this war room. Even when P. Chidambaram, Pranab Mukherjee, A.K. Even when stalwarts like Antony and Sushil Kumar Shinde would attend Congress meetings, no one would sit on the chair kept for ‘Babuji’ (Vora). Vora and Patel would pause for review after every meeting. Both the leaders had joint authority to sign checks related to the party’s headquarters at 24 Akbar Road till October-November 2020. The coordination between them was also excellent. Even in private conversations, differences of opinion were rarely seen between the two.
There was acceptance among every party…
Despite differences in political ideology, Motilal Vora was accepted by every party. In the year 2007, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President Mayawati even advocated his name for the post of President. In 2015, during his address in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also praised Vora for doing ‘excellent’ work under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley also used to count him among their ‘friends’.
When a big tree fell on 24 Akbar Road
Vora was also known for his eloquence. The old leader recalls how on one occasion Vora silenced the pessimists without any criticism. Actually, a big tree had fallen in the party’s premises located at 24 Akbar Road. This incident happened when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and the stars of Congress were on the rise. Someone compared the tree to Congress and pointed out that the party’s roots were weakening. Instead of arguing with the man, Vora pointed towards the empty space left by the fall of the tree and said, ‘Look, how much empty space has emerged.’
Got a chance to become CM due to Scindia’s refusal!
A major turning point in Vora’s political career came in 1985, when he was leading the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee and Arjun Singh had just taken oath as the Chief Minister of the state. After the swearing-in ceremony, when Arjun Singh reached Delhi to get Rajiv Gandhi’s seal of approval on his cabinet, Rajiv asked him to become the Governor of Punjab. It is said that Rajiv Gandhi wanted Madhavrao Scindia to replace Arjun Singh as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. When Scindia and Vora left together in a chartered plane, the Maharaja of Gwalior started asking about the daily routine, work and work of a Chief Minister and about Bhopal. By the time the plane landed in Bhopal, Scindia had decided not to take over as Chief Minister. He immediately called Rajiv Gandhi and asked him to consider Vora’s name for the post of Chief Minister. Actually, Scindia wanted that along with becoming a Union Minister in Delhi, he could also live his busy social life. Whatever the reason, Vora was always grateful to Scindia.
