SQDN leader, Union minister and sports administrator: Kalmadi's rich legacy

NEW DELHI: In the early years of his public life, Suresh Kalmadi had a peculiar habit of alighting at random railway stations to meet strangers, leaving his wife Meera worried if he would be able to board the train in time.

- Subhadra Chatterji

In 1995, when Kalmadi became the junior minister for railways in the PV Narsimha Rao government, Meera was delighted: “Now the trains can’t leave without him,” she used to say.

The post lasted barely a year, but it damaged, beyond repair, Kalmadi’s precious ties with his mentor, Sharad Pawar. Kalmadi took pride in calling himself Pawar's “ambassador in Delhi”, “organised parties for influential guests on his behalf and lobbied hard for Pawar as the Prime Minister candidate in 1991.

Kalmadi, a former Union minister, multiple-time MP and one of Pune’s most influential political organisers for over three decades, passed away early on Tuesday. He was 81.