Motilal Vora was in the league of a select band of Congressional leaders who would not share a secret with their spouse, children, or anyone else. For him, loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family was absolute and non-negotiable.
In Vora, the acting head of AICC, Sonia Gandhi, has lost a faithful who, like Ahmed Patel, knew the most fiercely kept secrets of the big party: how the money comes and goes, and knew the identity of all the anonymous donors who had Congress.
His epitaph at the age of 93 can be read as a life well lived, but in reality, the moment of its end has left Congress much poorer as Vora, who served as treasurer of the AICC for almost 18 years, some information, contacts and resources of Patel’s successor, Pawan Bansal, could have passed away.
Until last month, Patel and Vora had the joint authority to sign bank checks at 24, Akbar Road. In fact, one of the last full phone conversations Patel had before slipping into a coma is said to have been with Vora, and most of the discussion reportedly revolved around money issues.
Vora’s rise from bus attendant to union minister, chief minister, governor and top AICC official has been one of the most extraordinary and inspiring stories of our time. Young Vora was not highly educated, but he spent countless hours calling Durg’s passengers to Bastar areas quite inaccessible for Farishta’s travels.
A high-level journalist at the Navbharat newspaper called on him to orally reproduce the crime and other stories that took place in some remote areas of undivided Madhya Pradesh. [now Chhattisgarh]. It is unclear when the first Motilal Vora signature appeared, but within a few years, Vora not only established himself as a seasoned journalist, but also as a man who could successfully run a travel business.
Vora remained an ordinary politician until 1977, when he defied a wave of the Janata Party that had swept across the country to retain his seat in the Durg assembly. His big moment came in 1985, when Vora headed the MPCC and Arjun Singh had just taken over as Prime Minister of Madhya Pradesh. After being sworn in, Arjun Singh came to Delhi to obtain Rajiv Gandhi’s seal of approval for his cabinet when the then prime minister asked him to become Governor of Punjab.
There are many stories related to the successor problem in which a dark horse in Vora defeated Madhavrao Scindia, the Shukla brothers, PC Sethi, and others. According to those hostile to Vora at the time, when Rajiv asked Arjun about the successor, the prime minister had tried to involve Vora in the discussion, who was standing at a distance from Rajiv-Arjun. Somehow later, Arjun realized that his call saying “who raha” was misinterpreted as “Vora”.
Another account says that Rajiv wanted Madhavrao Scindia to replace Arjun. When Scindia and Vora left together on a chartered plane, the titular Maharaja of Gwalior began asking about life and Bhopal and the working hours of a senior minister. When the plane landed in Bhopal, Scindia rushed to call Rajiv to ask him to consider Vora for the position in exchange for a union minister and a hectic social life in Delhi.
Whatever the reason, Vora, until Scindia lived, was grateful to him. Throughout his chief ministerial tenure, Madhav-Moti ‘Jodi was constantly talked about. In fact, Vora had the ability to make friends and operate in small groups. During the UPA years [2004-2014], had partnered with Patel and Janardhan Dwivedi to head the AICC secretariat. The trio were informally dubbed the party’s ‘Brahma Vishnu Mahesh’. Vora’s influence on the incorporation of some ministers of state into Dr. Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers has been a well-documented fact of that time.
Vora had a great sense of humor and wit. One day a large tree fell inside 24 Akbar Road. This was a time when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister and the fortunes of Congress were dwindling. Someone started comparing the tree to Congress saying its roots were rotting. Vora ignored the pessimists and loudly pointed to the empty space left by the tree, ‘dekho kitni khali jagah nikal aayi.
At night Vora was often seen taking rounds of 24, Akbar Road. He would say it was a routine walk after lunch, but a closer look revealed something else. Vora politely asked passersby, party workers, to leave the offices. Minutes later, invariably, a vehicle arrived with ‘merchandise’ that required a safe, urgent and discreet parking.
When Sitaram Kesri had given up the position of treasurer of the AICC, Vora had discovered a false ceiling. He was unusually cautious inspecting it. When asked, Vora had said nonchalantly, “Do you expect me to leave something unattended?”
Vora was very courteous. Each visitor would receive a cup of hot tea. Sometimes this practice caused her appointment schedule to spiral out of control. Next, Vora had a boy from the AICC canteen stationed in her office with a thermos, cups, plates, etc., whose duty it was to rush through tea every time a visitor took a seat.
The date would be over when the tea was drunk. Oddly enough, Vora would meet everyone outside her door. Once, sometime in the 1990s, a wacko broke through and described himself as Priyanka’s husband. Vora waited for the tea to finish and Namaste did it instead of calling the security guard.
Unlike Jyoti Basu, who retired while in the prime minister’s office, Indian politicians are not known to say goodbye to public life. Motilal Vora was no exception.
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