Kept Ladoos Inside Locked Cupboard, But Party Funds Under Mattress: Here's a Curious Little Anecdote About Sitaram Kesri’s Tenure as Congress Treasurer During the 80’s

FEW HAVE EVER HEARD the name of one Sitaram Kesri, the veteran Congress leader who played a vital role in India’s freedom struggle, and within the party’s internal mechanism as well. To say that he lived an interesting life would be a massive understatement.

Who Was Sitaram Kesri? 

The Indian politician and freedom fighter hailed from Danapur town in Bihar’s Patna district. Kesri served as President of the Indian National Congress (INC) from 1996 to 1998 after PV Narsimha Rao stepped down, becoming the party’s first leader from a non-upper-caste background in decades. He also held several union ministerial portfolios under Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and P.V. Narasimha Rao. 

Born into an Other Backward Class (OBC) Bania family, Kesri actively participated in the independence movement and was imprisoned multiple times. He rose through the Congress ranks, and served as President of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee from 1973 before taking on prominent national roles. 

The veteran leader was a much trusted figure within the party, so much that Indira Gandhi himself appointed him as Congress treasurer, a position he held for more than a decade from 1980 till 1996. Other congress leaders like Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narsimha Rao, too held Kesri in high regard.

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Kesri took his role as party treasurer with the utmost regard, meticulously keeping track of each and every monetary transaction that took place and counting each note that was handed to him. “Khata na bahi, Jo Kesri kahe wahi sahi” (Neither account nor ledger, whatever Uncle Kesri says is correct) was a popular saying that was often uttered when Kesri held the treasurer position, which meant that whatever financial record that he maintained was of utmost truth and accuracy. 

The Congress Treasurer Who Counted Every Rupee 

A Facebook user via his social media handle @lititbyshahid has shared a curious little anecdote about the tenure of Kesri as Congress Treasurer. Affectionately referring to him as Kesri Chacha, the user shared an incident that took place that displayed just how earnestly the veteran leader functioned in his role.

At the time when Kesri was the party treasurer, 100 rupee notes were used for transactions, so stacks upon stacks of cash were stored at Kesri’s house situated on Purana Qila road, Delhi.

Nowadays, people often use safeguarded lockers, or tijoris as they are called, to store valuable items like cash. However, in the 1980s, as such a system was not mainstream, Kesri adopted a unique, and quite frankly eye-raising, way of storing the party’s cash: keeping it under his bed. Upon receiving the cash, Kesri would place it on top of his high bedframe and then cover it with a cloth.

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But this isn't what makes Kesri’s action interesting, it was the fact that the congress leader did have a locked cupboard in his house, but instead of using it to store the party funds he would store ladoos in it. Whenever a guest or a journalist were to visit his house, Kesri would direct his servant, Nanki, to open the cupboard and take out the box of ladoos to give to his guests.

When the curious guests asked Kesri why would he store valuable party funds under his bed, but a trivial thing such as ladoos doubly-locked inside the cupboard, the Congress leader remarked that people might steal and eat the sweet, but no one would dare touch the cash he managed.

As Kesri was instructed with the duty of keeping track of the party funds, a duty he described as “heavy,” he even forbade his own son and wife from visiting his house. As long as he was the party treasurer, the video claims, Kesri cut off all outside ties from the world and focused solely and diligently on his role. Such was his tenacity, that even senior congress leaders like Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narsimha Rao held Kesri in high reverence and remained assured that the party funds were in good hands.

Despite swearing his loyalty to the Congress party for well over seven decades, Kesri, unfortunately, wasn't untouched by the internal politics of the party. Three years into his tenure as the party president, in 1998, he was forcefully ousted from the party. 

Amidst the party’s electoral setback during that time, the Congress Working Committee removed Kesri as Congress President and installed Sonia Gandhi in his place. His departure from the party was a humiliating event, as he was allegedly locked for hours inside a bathroom for hours while Sonia Gandhi took charge, and later was heckled and had his dhoti pulled as he exited the party headquarters.

In the years that followed, Kesri kept a relatively low political profile until his death in 2000.

(Edited by Vaishnavi Sivadasan)

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