Who is the real supporter of BJP?
Mulayam Singh Yadav
The Observer
May 21, 1999
Title: Who is the real supporter of BJP?
Author: Mulayam Singh Yadav
Publication: The Observer
Date: May 21, 1999
The Congress party, in order to conceal its misdeeds and frustration,
has resorted to untruthful means which can only mislead the nation.
The Congress, with the help of some functionaries of the media, first
churned out rumours that the Samajwadi party and I were responsible
for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and the mid-term polls.
This prompted me to see President K R Narayanan and tell him that the
Samajwadi Party would not extend its support to the minority
government led by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi.
Now, the latest untruthful barrage is that the Samajwadi Party and the
BJP will have electoral adjustment in the ensuing elections and that
Amar Singh, Samajwadi Party's general secretary and spokesperson, had
met Arun Jaitley, a prominent advocates and a senior leader of the
BJP, at his residence on the evening of May 1 on this specific
purpose. The fact is that Amar Singh and his wife went to meet Arun
Jaitley in connection with some case pending in a court. How ethical
is it to politicise such a meeting? But this can happen in the
Congress party.
In view of this, neither the Samajwadi Party nor I need to explain our
position. However, I must remind the Congress leader that those who
live in the glasshouses should not throw stones at others.
Now, it is indispensable to bring some facts to the notice of all so
that there is no scope for any doubt.
The fact is that my animosity towards the Congress is very old.
Treading the path shown by the illustrious leaders like Dr Ram Manohar
Lohia, Jaiprakash Narayan, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Madhu Limaye,
Karpoori Thakur and Ramsevak Yadav, we have seen that the countrymen
have been exploited and swindled over the years during the Congress
regime. The poor, the minorities, the deprived sections of society,
the Dalits and the women have been the worst victims of the Congress'
exploitation.
During the Congress rule, the democratic values remained marginalised
and unemployment was allowed to grow without any check. It is the
Congress which has plunged the political system of the country into
corruption.
I was the one who stood by Jaiprakash Narayan during the days of
Samagra Kranti and opposed the dictatorship of Mrs Indira Gandhi
during the emergency days. As a result, I was put behind the bars for
19 months.
The Samajwadi Party is proud to have launched a ceaseless war against
the communal and venomous forces like the RSS, the BJP and the VHP.
In this struggle, my family has suffered a lot and several thousand
workers of the Samajwadi Party have been killed and others implicated
in false cases and their houses burnt.
We cannot allow the country to pass into foreign hands, nor can we
ignore the interests of the poor, the workers, the peasants, the
Muslims and the Dalits.
We believe that the BJP was equally responsible for the mess and
therefore elimination of that party was the foremost task.
It is the principled stand of the Samajwadi Party to eliminate the
communal forces in the country. In this endeavour, our party even
made efforts when the 12th Lok Sabha was elected. We called upon the
Congress to come forward to halt the BJP from coming to power. Even
the AIADMK leader, Jayalalitha, was not ready to extend her party's
support to the BJP at that time. The Congress party's unwillingness
to form the government only allowed the BJP to form the government
and, as a result, helped the communal forces to strengthen
themselves. This also forced Jayalalitha to extend her support to the
BJP.
The parties like the TDP, the National Conference and the party headed
by Om Prakash Chautala also tilted towards the BJP and the party
formed the government with their support.
At that time, suspicion was rife that the BJP and the Congress had
struck a deal. Even the rumour was that an NRI industrialist was
behind the secret deal between the two parties.
Later, this proved to be correct when the Congress not only, supported
the BJP-led government on all major decisions during its 13-month
tenure but even during the confidence vote, the Congress was against
bringing down the BJP-led government and it also refused to bring in
the no-confidence motion.
Let me ask a few questions. Whether or not the BJP and the Congress
opposed making a provision in the Reservation Bill for the women
belonging to the Muslim and the backward communities? Did the
Congress party not show more enthusiasm than the BJP on the smooth
passage of the IRA Bill?
Did the Congress not favour 49 per cent foreign participation while
the BJP was in favour of only 26 per cent? Did the Congress not push
the communal BJP far behind by passing a resolution wherein it was
made clear that only Hinduism was a guarantee of secularism?
Were the Congress and the BJP not of the same opinion on the question
of TADA accused? Was the Congress not supporting the BJP when
oppression was being perpetrated on the Samajwadi Party workers?
Who was behind the IB raids on the Nadwa Institute of the celebrated
religious leader Maulana Ali Mian?
Closely looking at the triangle of the Congress, the BJP and the BSP,
one knows that there has been a secret deal between the Congress and
the BJP in the past and during the present regime of the BJP. It is
also to be understood on what condition, the BSP had agreed not to
support the confidence vote sought by the Vajpayee government.
One would recall that both the Congress and the BJP had extended their
support to the BSP to form an alternative government when that party
had pulled out of the government led by me on June 1, 1995.
Does this not explain that the Congress has always helped the communal
forces to weaken the secular forces?
We knew the Congress was not a reliable political party. However, we
still wanted the Congress to evolve into a truly secular party and
take on the communal forces.
But unfortunately, the so-called secularism of the Congress was
exposed on the issue of Babri Masjid. The Congress was in power when
idols were put inside the Babri Masjid in 1949. Which party ruled in
UP when the police killed Muslims in Meerut and Maliyana? Who ruled
Bihar when the Muslims were massacred In Bhagalpur? We would not
support the Congress simply because we do not want to hurt the wounds
of the Muslims.
The Samajwadi Party wants to eliminate the BJP, but at the same time
it is prepared to make sacrifice to stop the country from slipping
into foreign hands.
(The author is the president of Samajwadi Party and former defence
minister.)
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