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To rule, one must first bring down the ruler, no matter the bloodline or the cost.
I’d adopted that same policy. I was 11 years old when I saw my father arguing with my uncle Pratap over the majority in the party. They both had started the NEP political party, having the same vision, but somehow Pratap uncle was always the one the supporters chose to be their leader. My father, who was three years older than him, couldn’t digest that fact, and they always brought their arguments back home. The leader gets to rule, and I wanted my father to be the ruler of the party that he was so dedicated to, but Pratap uncle used his sinister ways to brainwash the members and ensure that he was the one always favoured. This weighed heavily on my father. So heavily that he started becoming addicted to drinking. One thing led to another, and his decisions in a drunken state soon started bugging the other party members. Dad was termed careless and was deemed of no use to the party anymore, considering he was spoiling the image of their party in front of the nation. Also, rumours were floating around that Dad was going to be expelled from the NEP political party on the grounds of violation of the party discipline and breach of trust. This fueled Dad further, and despite being heavily drunk, he drove the car while returning from a social event with my mother and lost control of the vehicle, taking both their lives.
That’s when I learnt another lesson in my life.In the pursuit of power, the heir must become the executioner, slaying the one who sits upon the coveted seat.
My uncle, Pratap Walia, might not have killed my father directly, but he was partially responsible for it. But I held no grudge against him, at least not when he took me under his wings, treated me as his own and raised me to become a warrior just like him. But my goal has always been clear since I was a teenager—In the game of power, the crown demands sacrifice.
Joining the NEP party at 25 was my first step towards my goal, and slowly, I learnt all the skills and secrets from my uncle about making your mark in this political world. Politics was in my blood, and I promised my late father that, as his son, I would fulfill what he couldn’t accomplish. To gain uncle’s trust, I obeyed every command, every order and agreed to every decision that he took. To the world, I was my uncle’s shadow, but not every knight who leaps is fighting the war for the kingdom—a few, like me, have their own hidden agenda. All I needed was one opportunity to bring him down from the throne. And so far, the only person standing between me and Pratap uncle was his loyal bodyguard Vishnu. His fierce protectiveness and sharp vigilance over every situation related to my uncle always hindered my attempts to dethrone him from his political career. Though I disliked Vishnu, I knew better than to argue with him as his sharp mind could uncover my ulterior motives and expose my plans to my uncle. So, just as a knight on a chess board can move only two and a half steps, I kept pretending to do the same—take slow, controlled steps, fooling them and shielding my motives. What they were yet to realise was that the knight is a very powerful and dangerous piece in the game of chess, as it is the only one that can ‘jump over’ other pieces.
They say your enemy’s enemy is your friend. I had secretly maintained connections with a few of my uncle’s enemies. However, I could not extend this to the Shergill family, who were my uncle’s biggest enemies. Kailash Shergill had plans to construct a Hydroelectric power plant in Kansapur, the very place where we had accepted a bribe from a renowned real estate developer to grant approval for his IT park. Although these decisions were made with Pratap uncle at the forefront, it was my responsibility to handle the bribe and ensure that it remained hidden from the public eye. The idea of turning him into an ally to use against Pratap uncle in the future began to seem bleak. The situation worsened when Ayaan, the son of Kailash Shergill, arrived in India and became involved. On his first day in Mumbai, he used his cleverness to expose the midday meal scam by project manager Bhagat, who was from our political party. At that moment, I realised that outsmarting Ayaan Shergill would be difficult as I was also indirectly involved in the scam, a fact that my uncle Pratap Walia was unaware of. To prevent Bhagat and the other ministers who were arrested in the scam from implicating me, I had to pay a significant amount of money to keep them quiet. This was enough of a reason for me to start hating Ayaan Shergill, and that remained unchanged.
I recall the night I heard Meher giggling in her bedroom as if she was talking to someone on the phone. Curiosity overtook me, and I silently approached her slightly ajar bedroom door, which she must have forgotten to lock. That’s when I heard the name ‘Ayaan’ from her mouth, and my blood boiled. Based on the conversation she was having with him, it was clear that there was something significant brewing between them. I couldn’t even imagine that Meher had feelings for Ayaan Shergill, and knowing Ayaan’s character, I was sure he wouldn’t be playing with Meher either. The situation messed with my mind, and I felt the urge to storm inside, grab her phone and warn that man to stay away from my sister. And I wouldn’t even hesitate to take drastic actions if he didn’t comply.
Suddenly, I overheard Meher and Ayaan discussing their plans for Dalhousie, which sparked numerous ideas in my mind. I kept quiet about my knowledge of Meher’s growing relationship with Ayaan to finally implement what I had longed for the past few years.
The opportunity I had been waiting for had finally knocked at my door. Meher, unknowingly, became the pawn I needed to dismantle Pratap uncle’s alliance with the political members of the NEP party. With the Chief Minister resigning, Pratap uncle had his sights set on the throne. But I knew that to claim that position, one needed to be relentless, ruthless, and unwavering—qualities that I,Aksh Walia, possessed.
Although Meher was my little sister and one of my closest family members, I couldn’t let that stop me from pursuing my chance to gain power and become a leader within the party. Despite feeling a twinge of guilt, I went ahead and seized the opportunity, even if it meant involving my innocent sister in the chaos.
The following day, when Meher expressed her interest in joining a five-day meditation retreat at a centre in Dalhousie, I was the one to convince Pratap uncle to let her attend the course. I knew it was all a lie, and she had intended to spend those five days with Ayaan Shergill there. But I was curious as to why Ayaan was suddenly going to Dalhousie. Was it only for quality time with Meher, or was there more than what met the eye. But I kept those reservations to myself and sided with Meher to convince Pratap uncle. This was a golden opportunity to tarnish my uncle’s reputation and prevent him from becoming eligible for the position of Chief Minister, a post I had my eye on. The plan was simple. Once Meher reached Dalhousie, my source would take photos of her with Ayaan Shergill. Then, once I gave the green light, he would leak those pictures to the media.
Everything was working in my favour until I got a call from someone named ‘Raj’ three days after Meher left for Dalhousie. Raj informed me that Ayaan Shergill was planning to collect evidence from Tripathi’s wife, Rima, to prove that the Walias had bribed the minister to withhold the approval of the Mashaal Project. Tripathi and his wife were on a vacation in Dalhousie at the same time as Ayaan and Meher were. So, it became crystal clear as to why Ayaan specifically chose Dalhousie for a holiday with Meher.
Raj was employed by Krish, a friend of Ayaan who worked as a spy. His task was to hack into Rima’s phone, which contained incriminating evidence against the Walias. The evidence was primarily against me, as I was the one who had bribed Tripathi to reject the Mashaal Project. Pratap uncle was merely the figurehead for this deal. I was the one who arranged all the money transfers to Tripathi’s wife’s foreign bank accounts. So, Raj used that opportunity to inform me first to try and get some money from me in exchange for not giving the evidence to Ayaan Shergill. Raj was ready to breach his contract with Krish for a huge amount as his usual contracts didn’t fill his pockets enough.
I paid Raj so that even if Ayaan becomes successful in getting his hands on Rima’s phone, Raj would claim that it was a dummy phone and that he didn’t find any evidence in it. But the real drama began when I came to know that Meher was going to help Ayaan in this task. I sensed another opportunity here which would not just bring me closer to my throne but also permanently sever the connections between Ayaan and Meher. My source in Dalhousie had already clicked enough pictures of Meher and Ayaan together. So I made Raj hack into Meher’s email account to send the pictures exposing Ayaan and Meher’s affair to the media. My intention was to make it appear as though Meher had betrayed Ayaan by leaking the photos to the nation. My plan was foolproof and it worked. On the same night that Meher and Ayaan were planning to switch Rima’s phone, I told Vishnu to travel to Dalhousie and bring Meher back home. I lied to him that I had received information through one of my sources that Meher was not at a meditation retreat centre but with Ayaan at a private villa. I had already obtained the address for this villa through Raj. I asked Vishnu to keep this between us as Pratap uncle wouldn’t be able to handle the truth of his daughter’s actions. The loyal fool that Vishnu was, he immediately agreed to fly to Dalhousie on my command and also keep this a secret. He had no idea that I had a sinister plan to reveal the truth to my uncle and the entire nation, causing everyone to mock him. Meher was my uncle’s heart. I was hoping that this one news would shatter him, making him commit a mistake that would aid me to bring him down from the throne. The scandal broke out when my uncle, Pratap Walia, and Ayaan’s father, Kailash Shergill, were both attending a health camp in Mahabalipur, and this news made my uncle lose his mind and his cool. He openly threatened to kill Kailash Shergill before the media, showing his sinful side to the nation, thereby making my job easier. By then, Vishnu had reached Dalhousie and confirmed that Meher was in his custody, and he was bringing her back to Mumbai. That’s when I called Ayaan Shergill, who I knew by then was already aware of the chaos in his life and his surroundings. I was well aware that even though Meher had successfully swapped the phones, Raj had deceived Ayaan’s spy friend, Krish, by claiming to have found no evidence against us, thus thwarting Ayaan Shergill’s plan to expose us.
During my conversation with Ayaan Shergill, I convinced him that Meher purposely did not switch the phones because she was supporting us...her family. I also told him that Meher was, after all, a Walia. As expected, Ayaan’s belief in Meher wavered, and I knew that marked the end of their relationship.
But the situation took a turn for the worse when Kailash Shergill got into an accident a few hours later. That same night, Ayaan publicly accused Pratap uncle of being responsible for it. Everything worked in my favour, and I found myself relishing the downfall of my uncle’s political career. It was easy to persuade NEP party members to withdraw their support from someone whose reputation was tarnished. However, a challenge arose when Meher unexpectedly decided to join her father’s election campaign to help him regain his honour. That’s when I had to up my game.
To my utter surprise, Ayaan Shergill himself came to me, seeking an alliance. He wanted me to share any information and details about Pratap uncle’s future plans. Although hesitant at first, I had no other option but to strike a deal with him. Ayaan promised to persuade Asha Devi not to join the NEP party at my uncle’s suggestion. Recognising Ayaan’s determination to ruin my uncle’s political career, I decided to join forces with him, realising that when an enemy’s enemy becomes your ally, the game can take fruitful turns.
Although I held up my end of the bargain, Ayaan betrayed me. His purpose wasn’t just to ruin my uncle’s career but also to prevent me from winning the position of CM after the current chief minister stepped down. He cunningly tricked me into revealing all the confidential information regarding my uncle’s location and future election plans, and also persuaded Asha Devi to join the NEP party and urged her to compete for the role of CM, which was, after all, my dream.
Today I’d called Ayaan to meet me at my usual hideout to discuss why Ayaan ditched me. Little did I expect that Meher would appear out of nowhere, intruding upon our meeting. Ayaan, with his cunning mind, seized the opportunity to expose my deception to my sister, shattering my carefully constructed plan into pieces. Everything came crashing down in an instant, leaving me reeling with shock and desperation.
I was shocked to see Meher there, but after Ayaan left, I found out why. I had no idea that Meher was searching for Raj. And today, she was finally able to trace and trap him using the web laid out by her and Vishnu. Raj confessed that I was the mastermind behind exposing her scandalous affair with Ayaan and leaking the pictures to the media. Hence, Meher had come to confront me about it. After Ayaan exposed my involvement, Meher revealed that Raj had given a statement against me. She didn’t push me for answers, most likely assuming that I pursued this out of my desire for the power and throne that belonged to her father. Little did she know, it was not my ambition for power but my thirst for revenge against her father that made me do this. After warning me that she would not hide anything from her dad, she left for home with Vishnu. At that point, I didn’t care about hiding anything from anyone anymore. With my truth laid bare, my deceit exposed and my carefully crafted facade shattered, the moment of reckoning had arrived for this knight. And now, I was ready to confront everything that came my way, facing it head-on without a hint of remorse.
By the time I returned home tonight, Meher and Vishnu had already disclosed the truth to my uncle, exposing my recent alliance with Ayaan Shergill to bring him down from his position. Though my plans have backfired, I’m no longer afraid to face this moment. The moment I step in, I see Devika standing with Meher, her eyes filled with tears, while Vishnu stands behind Pratap uncle, resentment evident on his face. I failed to consider my wife, Devika’s reaction to my deceit against the family. This is not how I wanted her to know about my secret plan to dethrone my uncle. As I meet uncle’s gaze, the first question he asks is, “Why? Why did you betray me?”
He only saw my betrayal, but he didn’t know that I had been holding onto this resentment towards him since I was a child. I couldn’t help but release all my frustration, anger and disappointment on him in front of my family. Pratap uncle becomes furious as I narrate to him the truth behind my betrayal. I reveal how his past manipulation and schemes ruined my father’s reputation and career, ultimately leading to his tragic death.
“You fool,” Pratap uncle barks, “You have been harbouring a baseless grudge against me all these years. Your father, Nilesh Walia, had sold our political party’s secrets to outsiders, which is why we were going to expel him from the party.”
I clench my jaw, shaking my head in disagreement.
“You are lying,” I blurt out. “Who better than me knows how much you can twist the situation and the truth for your own benefit. I’ve heard countless lies from you, uncle. Not anymore.”
“This is not a lie,” he shouts. “Ask anyone who has been a part of our party for some time and who knew your father as much as they know me. Nilesh had sold the secrets, not for money, as he already had plenty of it. He did it to undermine me and usurp my position. And now, you, his son, have attempted to do the same.”
I am at a loss for words after hearing my uncle’s revelation. My mind is in a frenzy, struggling to comprehend the accusations made against my father.
“I don’t believe it,” I say, my voice shaking with bewilderment and frustration. “I have repeatedly seen my father being targeted, demeaned, and proven wrong. How can you expect me to suddenly believe that he was a traitor?”
My Dad was my role model, and I couldn’t digest the idea of him betraying his own.
“You have no idea about the pain I endured as a son,” I continue, my voice trembling with raw emotion. “It was so difficult to watch my father being wrongly blamed and accused, his integrity constantly doubted. I refuse to accept this allegation against him without solid proof.”
