Mumbai: Senior Maharashtra bureaucrat Umesh Chandra Sarangi, who in the past 25 years has resolved several agitations in the state involving Anna Hazare and is negotiating with the social activist to break the Lokpal logjam, has already held two rounds of talks with him on behalf of the government.
Though officially Sarangi was summoned on Sunday, he reportedly met Hazare unofficially earlier in the Tihar Jail, though officials decline to go on record.
Sarangi, additional chief secretary (home), is trying his negotiating skills again with the social reformer to break the impasse over the Lokpal bill and end Hazare's seven-day-old fast.
About the ongoing negotiations, Sarangi told the media on Sunday: "I had a few meetings with Hazare recently. A few issues remain to be sorted out."
A veteran at handling natural disasters, among them the Latur earthquake and Orissa cyclone, 59-year-old Sarangi is facing the biggest challenge of his career — to resolve a political disaster precipitated by the adamant social activist and an apparently confused government.
Earlier on several occasions, the Maharashtra government had relied on Sarangi to pacify Hazare when he raised the banner of revolt. It helped them buy time often to take the next step.
When Hazare launched his fast in April in New Delhi against the federal government, Sarangi played a role through the back channels and persuaded the septuagenarian to relent — at least for the time being.
It was during the ‘80s and ‘90s that Sarangi — an IAS officer of 1977 batch who served in the rural areas, while handling farmers and co-operative sector problems that he became acquainted with Hazare and his issues. Sarangi hails from Orissa.
Over the years, the duo developed a good rapport and mutual trust — something that Hazare has never boasted. Besides, in his three-decades plus career, Sarangi has handled several important assignments with a proven track record and integrity. Referred to as a "walking encyclopedia", he can off-hand reel off statistics and data on state issues.
According to a senior government official, Sarangi opens a direct dialogue with the opposite party — in the current case, Hazare — without relying on interlocutors, in itself a rarity.
Again, in the classic style of negotiations practised in some western democracies, he does not speak with anybody except the concerned superior, which ensures that the messages are not diluted.
Spiritual guru
He was once a model for a popular suiting brand and is now a self-styled spiritual guru. Meet Bhayyuji Maharaj, 43, who is trying to mediate between Team Anna and the union government in the standoff over a strong Lokpal Bill.
One of the youngest spiritual gurus in India, Bhayyuji Maharaj — alias Udaysingh Deshmukh — runs a trust called Shri Sadguru Datta Dharmik and Parmarthik Trust in Indore.
The trust was established in 1996 with the aim to "inculcate the spirit of liveliness in each human being and to make him a perfect citizen with social vision. And to inculcate the spirit of nationhood, among others".
A science graduate, Maharaj has done modelling for Siyaram Suiting in his younger days. During his student life, he was involved in several extra-curricular activities like horse riding, fencing, wrestling, cricket, badminton, music and poetry.
