M A I N   N E W S

The Last Word
Vidya Stokes
Our Lady Vidya
The dowager of Himachal proves to be a wily combatant and is still queen of women’s hockey
Pratibha Chauhan in Shimla

She is imperial in her bearing, regal in behaviour and political in her actions. An accidental politician, the 83-year-old Vidya Stokes still scores, be it dribbling past her much younger opponent to win the election as president of Hockey India or hitting a penalty stroke “for the dignity of hill women” against Y S Parmar, the legendary first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, for practically endorsing polyandry in his PhD thesis.

Here is a rare politician whose personal values often triumphed over the realpolitik. The diminutive politician with a conspicuous white streak in her hair is a dynamo of energy even at this age. Her gritty fight against former Indian hockey captain Pargat Singh for taking over the reins of the controversy-infested Hockey India is proof enough of that. She came perilously close to winning the prize, only to find it evading her just as she thought she had won it.

This, however, is nothing new. She came painfully close to becoming the first woman Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh after the Congress victory in the 2003 Assembly polls. She failed to keep the flock of loyalist MLAs together and her wily intra-party rival, Virbhadra Singh, outmanoeuvred her. She had led her party to victory, but the ultimate prize was grabbed by someone else. No wonder, some of her own loyalists say she “lacks enough political acumen” to make it big in today’s “rajneeti”.

Politics does not define Stokes, there is much more to her. She is a painter, social worker and horticulturist. It was her father-in-law, Satyanand Stokes, an American settled in the hills of Kotgarh who introduced apple in Himachal, virtually revolutionising the hill economy.

Her passion for hockey kept her at the helm of Women’s Hockey Federation for 25 years as its secretary and president. By her own admission, it was her elder brother’s love for hockey which got her hooked to the game. While the brother played the sport at the national level, mostly in Delhi, she came to be known as “didi”, who was later pushed into becoming the Secretary of the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation before taking over the reins of the Federation.

In her close circles she is heard saying that it is not necessary to be a player to promote the game, a proof of which is the progression of women’s hockey in India which under her has come a long way and won many laurels despite the poor attention it receives in a cricket-crazy nation. She has been the President of the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation in 1984, 1988, 1994 and 2003. She has also held the post of Vice-President of the Asian Hockey Federation from 1986 to 1994.

It was in 1974 that she made her electoral debut in a byelection following the death of her husband, Lal Chand Stokes. She won the election from the Theog Assembly constituency and represented it in the Assembly again in 1982, 1985, 1990, and 1998. Later, she shifted to the adjoining segment of Kumarsain from where she won in 2003 and 2007.

Having headed the HP Congress Committee, she has been in the reckoning for the Chief Minister’s post, considering her close proximity to 10 Janpath. Notwithstanding the backing of the high command and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, Stokes has not been able to garner enough support from the legislators, who were won over by her archrival, Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh, to become the Chief Minister.

She is often accused of being soft in taking on the BJP regime in the state and focusing more on criticising Virbhadra Singh. Nonetheless, her colleagues rate her as an excellent human being who is completely grounded and a steadfast friend. “I have always referred to her as ‘didi’ as she has always stood by friends through thick and thin even as she slogs alone with none in her family being around,” says Sat Mahajan, former minister and HPCC chief.

Stokes may not be known to be politically very astute or a great orator, but she has always stood for the welfare of women and children and uplift of the weaker section. She has remained closely associated with institutes being run in the state for destitute women, children and visually and hearing impaired. She remained General Secretary of the Indian Council for Child Welfare and Vice-Chairperson of the National Institute for Cooperation and Child Development.

Some old timers recall how she took on the powerful Congress Chief Minister Parmar on his controversial remarks about hill women. Along with other Congress MLAs, she staged a walkout, saying that the book was as an insult to hill women.

In his thesis, “Polyandry in The Himalayas,” which was later published as a book, recalls Stokes: “Parmar had said that the more times a woman got married, the more her value increased, which denigrated women. The book suggested that polyandry raised the status of women, which was wrong.” She wanted Dr Parmar to write a postscript in which he clarified that polyandry was practised in the past.

The lady, who most feel would prove to be a very gracious and dignified Governor, shuns the idea of being a nominal head, a post which her loyalists believe she can get any time she wishes to. She has been a grand old guide for several young Congress legislators as she groomed them in politics, fought to get ticket for them and backed them to the hilt by ensuring their electoral victory.

In these times of political nepotism, Stokes stands out as an oddity as no one in her family is even remotely connected to politics. Her three children -- two sons and a daughter -- are settled in the US as she manages her affairs, including huge apple orchards, all by herself. She not only happens to be one of the biggest apple producers in Shimla but also has an excellent collection of flowers and exotic plants collected from her extensive travels world over at her farm house.

As yet she is not hanging her boots. In fact, it is expected that she will throw her hat in the ring since there is uncertainty about who would head the Congress in the next Assembly elections. She lost out in 2003, but never gave up. She is nurturing her band of loyalists who are rallying behind her, especially in view of the fact that she is close to Sonia Gandhi. Who knows, this hockey lover may yet dribble her way past obstacles to score in the summer of 2012 and win the goal that has long eluded her — the Chief Minister’s chair