Na Nar na nari? Narayan Dutt Tiwari?
DURING the emergency (1975- 77), there used to be a poem doing the rounds:
Na nar na Nari; Indira ke Pujari; Sanjay ka Sawari; Narayan Dutt Tiwari
Narayan Dutt Tiwari is one of the few surviving freedom fighters who had gone to jail during the freedom struggle. In Post Independent India, Tiwari held many important positions like Chief Minister of UP thrice and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He is perhaps the only Indian who had been the Chief Minister of two states. He was a strong contender for the post of Prime Minister in 1991 and could have changed the history of India, but for the small detail that he was defeated in the elections by a small margin of 800 votes.
He was also Finance Minister of India. A Revenue Official recalls that he was fairly honest but he had some weak spots related to species of the opposite sex less than half his age. Apparently a quarter of a century has made no difference and the former Finance Minister, who by now had become the Governor of Andhra Pradesh, had to quit his job and leave Hyderabad for the cool climate of the Doon Valley on charges of being caught on tape in not too respectable postures for a 85 year old governor.
There is absolutely no doubt about Nar or Nari, but Tiwari has lots to explain.