HVK Archives: Janata Dal is no more, says V. P. Singh
Janata Dal is no more, says V. P. Singh - The Hindustan Times
Vijay Dutt
()
4 August 1997
Title: Janata Dal is no more, says V. P. Singh
Author: Vijay Dutt
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: August 4, 1997
The messiah of Mandal is now deeply worried about the dominance of caste in
Indian politics. In a wide-ranging interview with Vijay Dutt on the eve of
his departure from London, V.P. Singh said that power based on caste cannot
last long.
He had, in the almost two months that he was in London for treatment, tried
hard to exorcise the politician in him. He willed the painter to take over
and give him the solace that creativity alone could. He turned a major
part of his hotel's spacious bedroom into a studio "on the floor", even the
frame-making equipment was acquired to gild the picture he painted,
whenever he could gather the energy between dialysis on alternate days.
Vishwanath Pratap Singh, if the recovery he had in a few weeks here was any
indication, was much happier as a painter.
Painting was his first love, he says, until he entered politics at the age
of 39. But as painting demands no format, no sanction or approval, nor is
there a need to conceal anything or seek the cheers from followers as one
does in politics, he could still, at 67, return to flirt with his first
love, and fell the joy that eluded him as a politician, despite reaching
the top.
The over two-dozen of his paintings arranged in a side room were in effect
the visible contours of the emotions of a man free of constraints of power
politics. They symbolised the colourful imagery of his hope, that even at
this late stage in life he would be able to concentrate on what gives him
undiluted pleasure. But then politics is not easy to smoke out and V. P.
Singh possibly realises that he would never be able to dab away his
political past by the brushes he freely moves on canvasses.
The politician, however, has somewhat lost to genuine introspections and to
the strong desire to analyse the state and ethos of the political and
social life of the country from outside with an impartiality that only a
non-political being can muster. But, it would be difficult for him to make
others believe that a man who was so actively involved in the political
mainstream and who is still sought out and pressurised to intervene,
mediate and resolve issues could be beyond politicking. While he was in
London, newspaper reports attributed many moves in Delhi to his advice and
directions. Some suggested that it was because of his indications that the
DMK attempted to leave the United Front coalition.
Mr Singh laughed away such innuendoes, with the case of one who knows that
it would never be possible for him to insulate himself from the heat of the
boiling political cauldron, which is inevitable when a coalition is
churning out the vestiges of a single party dominance for decades.
"Coalition is a better guarantee for democratic institutions," the former
Prime Minister says. "The single party rule destroyer institutions.
Whenever someone said something everyone used to agree. Now, there is an
automatic balancing. We have seen that when the Government takes a view
some party or the other does not often agree and says it would not put its
neck into it. We should be glad about such a position. Decisions are thus
made collectively after differences are resolved." He obviously does not
miss the single dominance of the Congress for decades after independence.
He does not agree that the seeming fragility of the United Front coalition
is bad for the country's stability and will crack the political and social
moulds. It will take time to become perfect but he says that "coalitions
are a reality now" and the Centre will possibly get it even again if a poll
is held. He points out that coalitions have become a necessity for all
political parties. The BJP has a coalition in UP, the Congress is de facto
in a loose coalition at the Centre. Such coalitions would not, according to
him, aggravate fissiparous tendencies nor cause administrative and
political flux.
"I don't think compromises made in a coalition would accentuate problems.
It is the state, which is the final coordinator of conflicting interests
and to resolve them has been an art of finest administrators." He
illustrates, "It is easy to be a unionist or a capitalist but to manage
their conflicting interests and evolve a middle path is the real
management." This is, according more possible in a coalition. The
compulsions of political power are such that no party can hope to be in
authority singly, he iterates. He is confident that the continuation of
coalition rules will invigorate the institutions, essential-for democracy.
Significantly, the general feeling in some quarters that he wishes a grand
alliance or even a merger at some stage between the United Front and the
Congress is not substantiated by Mr Singh's assertion that neither of the
two should try to make the other "wither away", nor should they merge.
"This would be a very short-sighted policy," he asserts. The two must
exist, so that the two spaces, imperative in a democracy the ruling
political space and the other for the available alternative option, should
be occupied by one or the other secular party or the combination of them.
"Both the United Front and the Congress must remain fighting fit so that
neither space remains vacant for any communal parties. If they merge the
BJP would be very happy, for it would occupy the space for the opposition."
He goes to the extent of suggesting that even if there is an electoral
alliance in the northern Hindi belt or they enter into seat adjustments,
they should separate after the polls.
Mr Singh, however does not rule out the possibility of the Congress
withdrawing its support, as it did with the Gowda Government, but he does
not see it round the corner. Nor does he think the elections are looming on
the political horizon, "It's like asking whether the clouds would break
into rains or go away. I think the elections are not likely in the near
future but I would not either say that they would not take place for a long
time."
Mr Singh praises Mr I.K. Gujral for making the best of a very difficult
job. "He has to carry so many views. He has done very well," says Mr Singh.
His candid expressing of praise belies the impression sought to be created
that he has been unhappy with the performance of the UF Government.
On the drive against corruption and in particular the backlash and
political manifestations of the Laloo Yaday imbroglio, Mr Singh responds
first by stressing on the political aspect and its basics. He is also
exercised at the damage to the careers of many which were built over long
years, but who were forced to resign because of charges of corruption by
the CBI, which it later failed to prove.
"The demand for a clean and effective government has become something like
the expectation and need for light and water. But, there are two aspects of
corruption. One is the effective enforcement of the law and the other is
the reform of the system. Much enthusiasm is shown in cornering one's
opponent but there is no enthusiasm for reforming the system." He obviously
has in mind what has been happening in the last one year although he says
nothing about any specific case.
The Janata Dal leader is quite perturbed at the bleak record of the CBI in
securing convictions and the waywardness in its investigations which have
ruined "over two dozen" political careers. He accepts that the CBI has done
some good work like in the Bofors case and it has some good officers but
points out that it has a miserable record of success in any major case.
"They come out with long list of charges but they are dismissed by courts.
It is CBI's responsibility to secure convictions and they have singularly
failed to do so." Mr Singh does not agree that this is due to any political
interference. He cites the case of BJP leader Madan Lal Khurana. "He lost
his chief ministership because of the CBI charges. Now he has been absolved
but he can't get his chief ministership back." Who should be held
responsible for irreparably staining reputations?
Mr V. P. Singh laments that no one, the CBI in the least, is ever made
accountable for the damage to political careers. "It takes years for a
major politician to build himself and many such have lost everything
because of the 'verdict' of the CBI." He mentions instances of Mr L. K.
Advani, Mr Sharad Yadav, Mr Madhavrao Scindia and Mr S. R. Bommai, who was
not even charged but merely had his name mentioned by the CBI.
In many kinds of cases, he points out, the prosecutor is put in the dock if
he fails to prove the charges he may have levelled. Mr Singh apparently
wishes that a way must found to ensure that the CBI, considering the damage
it has caused to so many major and senior leaders, is constrained from
making wild allegations, and be made accountable for its failures.
His outspokenness on this issue give an insight into his feelings about the
plethora of cases instituted against leaders of all political hues and the
destabilising effect on them and the damage they have caused to the image
of the country. "One must rather ponder why it (corruption) happens," he
says and then enumerates a few steps need to he taken immediately. They
include electoral reforms, state funding of elections, compulsory
declarations of assets, appointment of Lokpal, decentralisation and
transparency. He also stresses that the system and procedures must conform
to the open market economy, now adopted by India. "The bureaucratic
controls must he curbed" to lesser opportunities for corrupt practices.
The former Premier is critical of too much obsession with the individual
politician. "We are too busy analysing the fortunes of individuals and
political parties. We have failed to note the colossal transfer of power
that has been taking place in social terms. This is the biggest historical
event since Independence. A massive shift in the power structure has
thereby occurred." He attributes the coming into higher echelons of
political power of the hitherto deprived sections as a revolution in Indian
political and social history. All parties have felt the impact. Various
social sections are now entering the power structure. "Even the BJP has now
a large segment which comes from the deprived section."
It is asserting itself and the BJP will have to accept the changes
otherwise it will split. The Congress lost its primacy because it became
less sensitive to social forces and the aspirations of the backward classes
to share power. "All parties have to realise that those who were earlier
satisfied with benefits of power are now wanting its levers." This is why
various combinations of forces are being tried. New leaders will emerge.
"Over 75 per cent of the members elected to Assemblies and Parliament are
now from the deprived sections and that has inevitably been throwing up
different leaderships." He singles out Andhra Pradesh Chief- Minister
Chandrababu Naidu, as a testimony of generational transfer of the
leadership mantle. "He has shown his political acumen and capability in
administering his state with dynamism and foresight."
The veteran leader is thus not worried about a vacuum developing in the
leadership in the future. "One must have confidence in our country. We had
even avatars but the country survived their disappearance".
Mr V. P. Singh comes out strongly against the suggestion that Indian
politics is now caste-ridden and leaders have been thrown up on the basis
of caste. "No one has been elected on the support of a single caste. A
combination of forces have thrown up new leaders. This is why no such
leader can afford to be one-sided or help only a particular caste. Power
might have come to them from the backward classes but those who fail to
deliver the goods will be weeded out." The process of weeding out is
already on, according to him. This would sound rather as a warning to many,
albeit without Mr Singh meaning, to deliver one.
Mr Singh sees a paradox in the BJP being termed a high caste Hindu party
when 80 per cent Hindus are Dalits. They are now in fact demanding power
inside it. "The BJP is trying all combinations of social forces and so are
the other parties." He did not comment on the reports that Mayawati is
reversing the social order in the administration with a vengeance in UP but
said that the communalism or casteism of any kind would not help any party
or leaders retain power. This is why he says that there has to be no
victimisation in the reverse when new classes have taken over power.
"Hatred cannot resolve ant thing." No one can exist on a single caste base.
His most amazing view is that the Janata Dal of 1998 or 1989 does not exist
anymore. "It has served its purpose. There are now various Janata Dals. We
have Laloo's in Bihar, one in Karnataka, Chimanbhai's in Gujarat and there
is the central outfit in Delhi." Overall he thinks that all parties have to
accept the new realities of the social change and adjust accordingly to be
able to survive.
As the conversation ends, one suddenly realises that the view and visions
of V. P. Singh the politician and the man who has distanced himself from
the centre stage of power politics blend interestingly. lie mystique about
him, which made his colleagues now and rant some time, persists, but there
is now an aroma of earthiness of a man who feels that what he set in motion
is rue the pattern, both political and social. Will he then make a
comeback? "I have given myself the option to return to electoral politics
by 1999. But, I need not do so." That's V. P. Singh for you!
Back
Top
|
