Congress has always manipulated the minorities, says SP leader
Times of India News Service
The Sunday Times of India
May 16, 1999
Title: Congress has always manipulated the minorities, says SP leader
Amar Singh
Author: Times of India News Service
Publication: The Sunday Times of India
Date: May 16, 1999
Forty-three years old, he is already on first name terms with most
senior national-level politicians. With his razor-sharp mind he is
remarkably well-clued into the intricacies of Indian politics, and
belongs to the new breed of yuppie politicians who travel in Mercs and
stay in five-star suites. Yet, he can also rough it out in the
interiors of Uttar Pradesh and the shanties of Bhiwandi.
The rotund and bespectacled Amar Singh is more than a member of
Parliament of the Samajwadi Party (SP). He is the con-science-keeper
of the party's chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The SP today faces its worst-ever crisis. After the role it played in
ensuring that an alternative government was not formed after the
BJP-led coalition lost the trust vote, the SP finds itself at the
receiving end of a propaganda barrage unleashed by the Congress,
primarily. It is being accused of being "hand-in-glove with the BJP",
the worst insult that could be hurled at the SP whose leitmotif is
"secularism and defence of the Muslims and the backward castes."
During a recent visit to Mumbai, Mr Amar Singh told this newspaper
that the Congress was "least qualified" to talk about issues like
secularism and stability. "The biggest blot on Indian secularism was
when Babri Masjid was demolished in December, 1992.Re demolition
happened because of an indulgent Congress government at the Centre.
"Also, the track record of the Congress shows that it has pulled down
all secular governments at the Centre beginning with Morarji Desai's.
The Congress back-stabbed secular Prime Ministers like Charan Singh,
Chandra Shekar, Inder Kumar Gujral and Deve Gowda. Congress leader
A.R. Antulay had openly declared that he was Bal Thackeray's
ambassador in New Delhi! Former Congress member of Parliament Sunil
Dutt had sought Mr Thackeray's help in getting his son, San-jay,
released from jail. It does not lie in the Congress' mouth to talk of
secularism and stability."
The SP leader rebutted Congress allegations that Mr Mulayam Singh
Yadav had blocked the formation of a secular government with Sonia
Gandhi as Prime Minister.
He said the SP had given three options to the Congress after the fall
of the BJP-led government. One was to make Jyoti Basu the Prime
Minister. This suggestion was accepted by Mr Basu and CPM leaders
like Somnath Chatterji. The second choice was to make some other
"secular" leader like I.K. Gujral, Chandra Shekhar or Deve Gowda the
Prime Minister.
The third alternative was formation of a Congress-led coalition
government. "None of these options were acceptable to Ms Sonia
Gandhi. She was only interested in becoming the Prime Minister with
unconditional support from the SP and other parties. We said she must
give a commitment that she would pass the Muslim and back-ward caste
women's reservation bill, ban the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
and change the Congress' stand on the patents law and the Dunkel
draft. She was not willing to give any commitments," he said.
Mr Singh said the SP was committed to opposing both the BJP and the
Congress. The party will contest all the 85 seats in U.P. and a few
in Maharashtra, "and emerge as an important player in the next Lok
Sabha." He denied that the Muslims were moving away from the SP.
"The Congress has always manipulated the Muslims. In sharp contrast,
we have consistently defended Muslim interests, even it meant opening
fire on Hindu mobs like in Ayodhya. The Muslim voice will be heard in
Parliament only if SP candidates are elected in sufficient numbers.
The community is aware of this and no amount of Congress propaganda
can fool it," Mr Singh claimed.
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