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Gadgil couldn't even clear his hospital dues: son

Rucha Chitnis in Pune

"His contribution to the Congress was immense, but his contribution to India was far greater," remarked Suresh Kalmadi, member of the Rajya Sabha, of the role played by Vithal Narhari Gadgil in articulating the ideology of the party and the country.

Hundreds of people -- politicians, friends, litterateurs, relatives and ordinary Puneites -- congregated at Gadgil's home in Shaniwar Peth on Wednesday to pay their respects to the Congress stalwart. Many in the crowd were senior citizens who arrived with flowers and garlands. Sharad Pawar, president of the Nationalist Congress Party and one of Gadgil's few political adversaries, was, however, conspicuous by his absence.

A true Congressman, an honest, upright individual, and a humanitarian were some of the terms used to describe Gadgil by many of the mourners.

Among those attending the funeral were Pune Municipal Commissioner Captain Ashok Deshpande, Pune Congress president Mohan Joshi and Congress general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Gadgil is survived by his wife Sunita, son Anant and daughter Archana.

Gadgil, whose final term in the Rajya Sabha ended last April, thereafter occupied himself with writing the history of the Congress. "He spent half his time in the Parliament House library and the other half in the British Council library," recollected his son.

The senior Congressman, who had undergone bypass surgery, suffered a burn injury of the foot and was undergoing treatment. "His wound had turned septic and his foot was operated upon and he seemed all right. But two days back he complained of a bit of pain during a routine dressing and suffered a massive cardiac arrest [at 0300 IST on Tuesday]," his son told rediff.com

"His greatest quality was honesty. Nobody knows this, but my father did not have enough money to pay his hospital bills. But since he is revered so much by many, the hospital offered to forgo part of the payment," he revealed.

As a man whose father was a freedom fighter and member of the Congress during the Nehru era, what did V N Gadgil envision for the party? "My father hoped the Congress would redefine secularism," said Anant Gadgil. Famously, he had even written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the matter.

Attending the funeral were several of Gadgil's colleagues from the Pune Vidyarthi Graha, an organisation of which he was president for the last 20 years. "He was a great force behind this project, which is concerned with the education of poor but deserving students," said its chairman, Sant Gajanan.

Besides being Union minister of state for defence and communications in Indira Gandhi's government and information and broadcasting minister in Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinet, Gadgil held at various times the positions of Congress general secretary, party spokesman, and programme and policy chief.

"He did everything he could for the common man. He was a great thinker, a brilliant orator. He will be missed by many," Kalmadi said sombrely, before joining the funeral procession.

Several men and women chanting Gadgil's name broke into tears as the body was slowly driven away to be cremated with full State honours at the Vaikunth crematorium. "He is perhaps the last of a breed of morally upright men who served the country. Immensely intelligent, yet so simple, he treated us all alike," murmured a senior citizen, shaking his head in despair.

TRIBUTE:
'Bare fangs and bunched-up knuckles were not for Vithal'

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