New Delhi: Former journalist, editor, Madhya Pradesh BJP State President, Rajya Sabha member, and BJP national vice president Prabhat Jha passed away at the relatively young age of 67 on Friday morning in Gurgaon, where was admitted to a private hospital after being airlifted from Bhopal. Jha, who had been battling diabetes for a long time, developed related health issues that ultimately proved fatal.
Born in Sitamarhi, Bihar, Jha started his career as a crime reporter in Gwalior. Through years of effort and dedication to the party’s cause, he became one of the most prominent leaders in the twin states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Jha was the media in charge of Madhya Pradesh when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the general secretary in charge of the undivided state in 1995. The two developed a strong bond that continued until Jha’s last breath. However, it was a relationship Jha never used to seek a position in the cabinet, unlike many of his contemporaries, when Modi came to power at the center in 2014.
He had no godfather in politics and attributed his rise in the party to the love and support he received from ordinary party workers, each of whom he remembered by name. When he was appointed as the state president of the party in May 2010, he made it a point to cover the entire length and breadth of the state on foot, meeting party workers even as the BJP in Bhopal was engaged in internal fights. One reason for his sudden removal as state president in December 2012, much earlier than his tenure was supposed to end, was an event he famously described as akin to the ‘Pokhran blast’ due to the secretive manner in which the removal was orchestrated, mostly by players in Bhopal. Some of these individuals had, just a few days earlier, approached him and cried while seeking his support to remain in power.
When the Modi government came to power in May 2014, his name was reportedly on the list of leaders to be appointed to the cabinet. However, as soon as this news reached Bhopal, the same players who had conspired to remove him ensured that his name was removed from the list hours before the oath-taking, and in his place, another leader from the same region was sworn in.
A few months ago, he was informed of his impending appointment as the Governor of Maharashtra, for which the local officials had already started preparing the office and his room accordingly. However, his detractors ensured that he was not given the post.
Having witnessed firsthand the struggle of reporters and the expectations that editors and management have from them, Jha always did his best to ensure that a journalist who met him for news would get something to write about. He never provided incorrect information and would say he was not aware of issues he genuinely didn’t know about, rather than engage in speculation or provide false information, as many politicians do.
Nevertheless, given his vast network of friends and well-wishers across India, there was rarely something he was not aware of. This reporter was privy to many news stories and pieces of information Jha provided days before they actually happened. His only unwritten rule was that he would not share anything that could be construed as going against the interests of the party.
However, to those he considered close, he would clearly warn them about individuals and leaders whom he knew would prove detrimental to their professional lives.
As long as he was in a position to help, he ensured that any journalist who came to him for assistance, whether for a job or financial help in an emergency, would not leave disappointed.
From Delhi based editors and roving editors to a trainee journalist who was a newcomer to the field of journalism, Jha would accord all of them the same respect and would go out of his way to help them.
During covid time, when Jha was down both professionally and personally due to health reasons, he still made calls to MPs and doctors to seek help for journalists. Despite not getting a favourable response from the opportunistic lots , he continued trying.
He was appointed as a Rajya Sabha MP for the first time in 2008 and then again in 2014. After his second tenure ended in 2020, the steady flow of people seeking favors began to dwindle at his Delhi residence. When asked about this by those who continued to visit him, Jha would say that this is normal human nature, and even bees avoid flowers that are past their prime. When the political situation in Madhya Pradesh changed last year and Mohan Yadav was appointed Chief Minister, the flow of visitors resumed, as Yadav was someone Jha had groomed and promoted.
While Jha never explicitly said so, it was clear that he felt a deep sadness about how the party chose not to utilize his political wisdom, acumen, and experience, which many independent observers would agree was far richer than that of many BJP leaders in influential positions.
Jha was the media in charge of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh until 2003. During his tenure, while staying in his one-room accommodation in Eknath Parisar in Raipur, the headquarters of BJP in Chhattisgarh, he devised the idea to publish 30 pages of booklets detailing how the Congress had failed the people in the two states. Later, this model was replicated in other states by the BJP.
Being a reporter, he understood the tastes of readers and the impact of newspapers and reporters. He would personally design ads, layout, and decide the ad amounts that would be released to the media by the party.
One day, in the early 2000, an agitated Jha chased a sitting BJP MP from a central state off the Eknath Parisar campus. Unbeknownst to many, the BJP MP had been clandestinely working for Congress and had met with party leaders hours before seeking a ticket. However, Jha, through his extensive network, discovered this betrayal and could not control his anger.
He was known for his influence over the bureaucracy in both states. Despite being considered one of the most influential leaders in the region, given his close relationships with RSS leader Suresh Soni and senior Rajnath Singh, he had no sense of arrogance like many of his contemporaries, and he would have dinner with bureaucrats at their home who trusted him with their secrets. He had very few political enemies and was liked equally by former Madhya Pradesh BJP CM Sunder Lal Patwa and former Congress CM Digvijaya Singh. When former Congress CM Ajit Jogi had passed away in 2020, Jah had shared with this correspondent the worries that he had for his son Amit Jogi and his wife, Renu Jogi.
In Bhopal, after emerging from the wings of his earlier mentor, Kushabhau Thakre, Jha would move around on his green Vespa scooter, mingling with reporters and their family members.
In his last few years, he initiated a project to develop the temple of Goddess Sita at Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi district. Every Diwali, he would light diyas at cremation grounds in Gwalior to honor his ancestors, whom he attributed his journey to.
With Jha’s passing, countless BJP workers across India have lost a leader they would turn to in times of need and advice. The BJP also lost a man who still had much to contribute to the party, but sadly, internal politics ensured that he left the world with this treasure trove still within him.
