Newsmaker: Arjun Singh

Value of the family and the family of values

On May 21, 1993 when Arjun Singh broke down in tears while delivering a speech on Rajiv Gandhi's death aniversary, there were a few sniggers in the Congress. His rivals termed it an attempt by the veteran leader to regain his clout with the Nehru-Gandhi family.

About three years later, his critics say the septuagenarian is still at it. Extending reservation to OBCs in educational institutions is the latest attempt to consolidate his position in the party.

Unwavering loyalty to the Gandhi family ensured him a Cabinet berth, but others "" his protege-turned-rival Digvijay Singh, bete noire Motilal Vora and young Turks like Ahmed Patel "" now call the shots in the party.

According to his colleagues, Singh's major folly was that he put a huge premium on loyalty. After his stint as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1980-85), he was sent to Punjab as Governor from where he returned with a shining feather in his cap in the form of Rajiv-Longowal Pact (Punjab Accord).

Appointed vice-president of the party in the mid-1980s, he antagonised several stalwart including Madhavrao Scindia, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Buta Singh, ML Fotedar. Rajiv Gandhi was persuaded that Singh was taking his job as number two in the party a little too seriously.

He was shifted back to MP as CM, which he had to give up a year later because of his indictment by the Jabalpur High Court in the infamous Churhat lottery scam.

Singh has been a better politician than administrator. As CM, he undertook several populist schemes like regularisation of slums and free electricity connection (for one bulb) for the dwellers. It was during his tenure as CM that dreaded Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi had surrendered.

He had his first stint in Union Cabinet as commerce minister in Rajiv Gandhi government. After about three years in Narasimha Rao Cabinet as HRD Minister- the period marked by a very uneasy relationship between him and the PM "" Singh resigned and joined Congress (Tiwari).

The 1996 election was a disaster for the newly formed outfit as also for Singh who lost, but it also proved to be a blessing in disguise.

His departure from the parent party came at a time when Sonia Gandhi and Rao were not on the best of terms and therefore, Singh's move only established his credentials as a loyalist. Singh returned to the parent party after Sonia took over the reins.

His latest stint in the Union Cabinet has been marked by an unrelenting endeavour to realise all unrealised ambitions. In 1992, after the Ayodhya demolition when then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was on shaky ground, there were many in the party who put their money on Singh as his successor.

This time, it is a little different. Despite so much time and energy expended on the reservations issue, Singh has not called on the Prime Minister to explain or clarify.

The first statement made by him "" that the Prime Minister "knew" about reservations "" violated a well-established convention in the Council of Ministers: that consultations inside government, especially with the PM, are not cited publicly.

Singh has not, for example, felt it necessary to say that Congress President Sonia Gandhi endorses the reservations issue. Drawing the PM into a controversy is being seen as an unconvincing attempt to indicate consensus in government.

Fourteen years since 1992, people may have counted him out of the race for the top job. But if there is a vacancy, Singh is determined to stand up and be counted. He is not about to let his efforts go waste.