Is Shekhawat Worth The Salt?

A journey into the distant and mysterious past of presidential candidate and current Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat brings us to the quaint but run-down haveli of Radhamohan Mathur in Sikar, Rajasthan. It was here that the young Shekhawat, then a sub-inspector in the Sikar police, stayed for about five to six months following his suspension on August 21, 1947, for accepting a bribe. Seventy-seven-year-old Brajmohan Mathur, the present owner of the haveli, vividly recalls Shekhawat's stay here prior to his reinstatement in the police force.

Brajmohan's elder brother Radhamohan Mathur, the late Mir Munshi of the erstwhile Sikar Thikana, which was a sub-state of the former princely state of Jaipur, had hosted Shekhawat. Radhamohan was a friend and benefactor of young Bhairon Singh and was instrumental in his reinstatement. Brajmohan shows us around the haveli and takes us to the room where Shekhawat had stayed. Recalls Brajmohan: "I would bring buckets of water for Bhairon Singh to wash, but most of the time he preferred to bathe at the well across the road."

Tour of the haveli over, he settles down to narrate the story of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's suspension and reinstatement. It's a story Brajmohan has heard several times from his brother Radhamohan and from Bhairon Singh Shekhawat himself.

Brajmohan Mathur

"At the time of his suspension, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Nechua police station located on the border of Bikaner and Jodhpur states. Traders brought salt to Sikar on camel-back from Salasar, which fell partly in Bikaner and partly in Sikar. These traders had to pay a duty when they entered Sikar. Shekhawat as Nechua sho was responsible for collecting this duty. One day Kalyan Singh, the Raoraja or ruler of Sikar, was visiting the Balaji temple at Salasar. He met the camel caravan carrying salt and enquired if the traders had paid the levy. He demanded that they show him the receipt. The Raoraja was told that SHO Shekhawat had collected the money as usual but did not give them any receipt. This illegal income pocketed by Shekhawat cost him dear--Kalyan Singh suspended him on the spot.

"Shekhawat came to us, sought the intervention of my brother Mir Munshi Radhamohan Mathur and shacked up with us for about five to six months. Radhamohan saw the opportunity to help one day when Raoraja Kalyan Singh's entourage passed by on the way to Deepura. Radhamohan pleaded with the Raoraja to reinstate his poor caste-cousin (jaatbhai) Bhairon Singh. He said it was stretching his means to feed this chap for so long. Raoraja Kalyan Singh was initially unmoved and asked Radhamohan to be ashamed of pleading for a person charged with bribery. But he ultimately relented and reinstated Bhairon Singh and posted him to Singhrawat. The Raoraja's will was supreme under the old princely regime and there were no procedural hassles."

Brajmohan Mathur currently leads a retired life after serving the Times of India Group in Mumbai and later the UNICEF.