'I did not kill Pramod Mahajan. It happened in 15 minutes'

Pravin Mahajan recalls almost every single moment he has spent with his late brother and senior BJP politician Pramod Mahajan, for whose murder he was convicted by the lower courts. "I recall Pramod more than I do myself," he says, seated comfortably in the living room of his house in Thane. "He was a born genius. There cannot be a second Pramod."

In an exclusive, free-wheeling, interview that began at 8:30am on Monday and lasted two and a half hours, Mahajan, on a 14-day furlough, showed little remorse and was matter-of-fact in his replies. Excerpts from the interview:

How will you describe Pramod?
He was a born genius. He worked hard for his party. He took the responsibility of the family when he was just 21. He had won all debate competitions in Marathwada. He had successfully gained control over the university students' council by making an alliance of students of different castes. It was the Pramod Mahajan formula. First, Sena-BJP and now the Congress-NCP are implementing the same formula. There cannot be a second Pramod Mahajan.

I was the only courageous man who would ask him anything. He would call me Chandu. (Pravin was nicknamed Chandu after cricketer Chandu Borde.)

Then why did you kill him?
I did not kill Pramod. It happened. Can you believe it? I hardly think of it; you would imagine that the incident would keep coming back to me, but I do not think of that. Certain things are inexplicable. It happened in 15 minutes. I am not trying to evade it. There are many memories. You cannot erase them. Why only April 22 [the day Pramod was shot in 2006]? I recall everything. Pramod never deserved such a death. But as Kahlil Gibran says, "The murdered is not unaccountable for his own murder..."

Don't you think your book was a character assassination of Pramod?
Only you people [in the media] gave the book publicity. Why didn't you throw out the book? How can a person have a private life when he is in public life? Delhi spoils you. Power centre spoils you. It is not Pramod's fault. But how did Atalji and Advaniji remain clean?

How were your relations with Rekha [Pramod's wife]?
I knew her before she became my vahini [elder sister-in-law]. When my father died she was the only outsider in our home. She has a great contribution towards our family. She sold her gold ring to buy a ring for my wife Sarangi on our engagement. She never uttered a word about it. When the court asked whom Pramod loved the most, she pointed to me.
I saw a question in Vahini's eyes. She paid every price for Pramod. He had told her not to complain against me and Aai at any time. She used to work hard for all of us. She had to look after the guests. That time every distant relative would stay at our home. But vahini never said no to anybody. She gave them attention even if she wasn't feeling well.

What is your family going through now that you are in jail?
In the last three-and-a-half years, some people stopped coming to my home. Unki buddhi utni hi hai. But there are people who stood by me. They are far bigger than me. I met Prakash [his second brother] once. He had come to the court on October 30, 2007, the day I was sentenced for life. It was also Pramod's birthday. Nobody from the family called on me. Not even my mother. She still has a right to beat me up. I will not complain about it. She had called Sarangi on April 22, 2006, and advised her to close all the doors. Since then, there has been no communication.

I shudder to imagine what my wife and two children --- Kapil and Vrushali --- have suffered. They have been hit hard. Unfortunately [for her], she is married to me. My two brothers-in-law have been a great help.

How did you get parole?
Though one is convicted, everything is not closed. A convict has the right to get parole after 22 months. The first time when I applied for parole last year, the Worli police denied the application saying I had threatened witnesses. The jail authorities told me that the application cannot be accepted as only four months had passed since my conviction.
I did not want to come out during the Lok Sabha or assembly elections. This time, I had a plan to come out on November 16. But there were marriages of two of my close friends. Had I attended the marriages, somebody would have objected. I did not want to create trouble for my friends.

How has life in jail been so far?
When Pramod was in jail for a year in 1974, he would say that it takes 24 hours to go from 10am to 11am in jail. I feel the same. It took me almost a year to sneak into every room of Nashik jail. The jail authorities have not given me a specific job. I usually go to the library and read books. I read Mark Davenport, Gita, Vipassana, Osho Rajneesh, and Gopal Godse's book (on Gandhi's assassination). In Nashik jail, most of the prisoners are from rural areas. They have a wrong impression about me. They think I am a big man.
When I came out of jail last week, I did not have good clothes. My inmate Sameer Kulkarni (an accused in the Malegaon blast case) gave me his brand new dress. Somebody had gifted him the dress. He had gone to Jalgaon for a hearing of his case.

What changes has the life sentence meant for you?
I can see everything has changed. [Points to a corner of his drawing room] There was a bulb here. Now, there is only a wire. I used to get angry quickly earlier. Now, I have learnt to control it. The mind can take stress up to an extent. Not more than that.

How did the gangsters treat you in Arthur Road jail?
Arthur Road jail is a mess. It is overcrowded. There are no big underworld men remaining there. Iqbal Kaskar is a cultured person. He was living peacefully. We shared a barrack for two months or so. Abu Salem is polite. I shared the place with Vicky Malhotra too. He used to wonder how I did not abuse Pramod at any time. I told him there was nothing to abuse Pramod for. I tried to teach Mustafa Dossa for a while. He cannot read or write. I used to write letters to his wife on his behalf and read out her letters to him. He had a nice transistor and would listen to Radio Pakistan all the time.

Do you think Gopinath Munde can carry forward Pramod's political legacy?
Gopinath Munde does not have that stature. He initially could not even speak good Marathi... [pauses] he still can't [laughs]. Pramod was a teacher. But he failed. He could not improve Munde's language. Munde's politics is still at the zilla parishad level. He and Prakash are cowards. They did not have the courage to ask Pramod anything.

How do you look at Pramod's children?
I would tell Pramod that his children [Rahul and Poonam] got their intelligence from their mother and their arrogance from their father. He would laugh at this remark. Rahul is a good person. Except his apathy towards study, there is nothing to say against him. He never speaks badly about anybody. Whatever happened to him was unfortunate. He is a victim of his surroundings.

I like Poonam too. I felt sad when she lost the assembly election from Ghatkopar (West). I would have been happy if my two nieces had won. [Munde's daughter Pankaja Palve, also Pravin Mahajan's niece, won the election from her father's constituency Parli.] Poonam was the wrong choice for Ghatkopar (West). She appealed to people to vote in Pramod's name. Who will vote in his name?

Why did Rahul and Poonam not complete their graduation?
They were somewhere truthful [refers to Poonam's election affidavit, which said she had studied up to SSC]. Being a commercial pilot is not an education. Kapil and Vrushali will be the first graduates among the children of we three brothers. My mother is uneducated but father was a graduate and an English teacher. He was a well-respected person. We all siblings are graduates. In my hometown, I had friends who were involved in matka. Still they wanted their children to study. But somebody has to take interest in children's studies. Pramod was consistently busy with politics. He did not have time to take care of the children. Vahini was supposed to look after their education. But she had too much responsibility of the family. Pramod expected me to become a doctor. He did not expect that from his children. Whose responsibility was it?

Did you ever try to use Pramod's political contacts?
Never. You will be surprised if I say I never met Atalji, Advaniji, and Nitin Gadkari. Yes, I met Balasaheb [Thackeray], but only once.

What would you say about Balasaheb and the RSS?
Balasaheb is a born genius. Balasaheb singularly developed the Shiv Sena. But Raj Thackeray is the most popular politician in Maharashtra today. I am not saying this because of his party's electoral performance. After all, he is a Thackeray too. Anybody can be popular, whether he is an actor or an underworld don.

The RSS is a large organisation. It is like an elephant. Blind people cannot measure it. The RSS is an organisation of committed workers, but once you get economically well off you become Pramod Mahajan.

How do you look at the assembly election results?
The predictions of the assembly elections were proved wrong because the analysts knew nothing. Most of the psephologists are former IT professionals. They had to take the job due to the recession. They did not have any experience of elections. Had an experienced person like Sharad Pawar written about the outcome it would have been a different thing.

What about your court case?
YP Singh was interested in fighting my case. But my family members emphasised on appointing Harshad Ponda. Singh told me that even [Ram] Jethmalani cannot save you. I said they [the court] will not hang me. My crime was neither against a woman who has kids nor was it mass murder. Pondaji is a strict lawyer. I have full faith in him.
I do not find Ujjwal Nikam extraordinary at all. He is not a competent prosecutor. He speaks like a parrot. He claims credit for the convictions in the 1993 serial blasts case. But it was judge Pramod Kode who ensured the convictions. Nikam [who was also the prosecutor in the Mahajan case] must have regretted it when the sister burst into tears and Rekha Vahini did not.

Any birthday plan?
No. At 50, I cannot digest everything. So there will be no celebration. After coming to Thane, I have gone out only to the police station. I desired to buy a house in Pune. Now, I must ask for a transfer to Yerwada jail so that I can stay in Pune.