The Hindu : National : I differed with Indira, Sanjay over Emergency: Arjun Singh

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I differed with Indira, Sanjay over Emergency: Arjun Singh

Special Correspondent

“The yardstick for measuring loyalty has become very limited now ”

President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and HRD Minister Arjun Singh at the launch of the book titled `Mohin Kahan Vishram' on completion of 51 years of public service by Arjun Singh, in New Delhi on Friday. - PHOTO: R.V. MOORTHY

NEW DELHI: Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on Friday said he had differed with the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi on the proclamation of Emergency.

Speaking at a function organised here to release a collection of articles on his public life — ‘Mohin Kahan Vishram’— he said the culture in the Congress then was such that he was still allowed to contest the 1980 elections and Sanjay Gandhi campaigned for him.

Speaking in the context of the present-day Congress wherein “the yardstick for measuring loyalty had become very limited”, the Minister said both Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi allowed him to speak his mind during the Emergency.

Conceding that he agreed with the rationale for proclaiming the Emergency, Mr. Singh said his fear was that it would be misused. This difference in opinion, he pointed out, might have kept him out of Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet during the Emergency but did not prevent him from getting a ticket in the 1980 election.

Mr. Singh also referred to forces within the party trying to pull him down from the very beginning.

While maintaining that the Nehru-Gandhi family had a knack for recognising loyalty — and could differentiate between true loyalists and pretenders — Mr. Singh did not elaborate on his observation regarding the ‘limited definition’ of loyalty prevalent in the party today.

Barring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — who put in an unscheduled appearance but did not speak — and a few veterans from the party like M.L. Fotedar, no senior member of the Congress hierarchy attended the function. With the book already stirring a controversy over Mr. Singh’s reported remarks on the decision-making process in the Congress, the media contingent was the strongest in a gathering attended by people from institutions under his Ministry and friends and associates.

The first copy of the book was presented to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil who spoke about the difficulties faced by any politician as the line between public and private life gets blurred after the very first step into politics.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee hailed Mr. Singh as a champion of secularism for whom it is not a dogma but an article of faith. Also, he made a reference to the downslide in politics and lamented the confrontationist and divisive attitude of some political parties.

Earlier in the day, Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed sought to cap the controversy over Mr. Singh’s reported remark on the decision-making process within the party. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, according to him, was in constant consultation with senior leaders and also discussed in detail issues with allies in the United Progressive Alliance. Also, he pointed out that Mr. Singh was a member of the Congress Working Committee where all decisions are taken.

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