One issue which are defied solutions for nearly four years is that of Ram Janam Bhoomi and Babri Masjid, which was pushed into the blind jelly of statecraft by our previous filters. Even after innumerable talks there seems to be no solutions in sight. And today it is apparent that the people in whose days the problem cropped up, want the issue that no solution is found , because in its continuance lies their Political well being.

Our Previous rulers devoted all their energies towards creating a wall of hatred between the hindus and the muslims. They provoked both the hindus and muslims and when riots broke out,fanned the flames of distrust even harder.And they did this keeping in mind the age old strategy of divide and rule.Our Story is witness to the success of sure strategy.

The states which gained maximum notoriety due to recurring communal riots in the past five years are Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Incidentally, all these states are the ones which were governed by the congress-I. states which were not under their rule like Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,Assam and Haryana did not suffer from the after-effects of roused communal passions. So the questions which comes to mind here is, why did riots break out only in state Governed by the Congress-I? There is really only one answer to this – that the Congress I is a communal party whose personal interests are best served by communal riots. This notion is strengthened by the fact that I am unable to recall any incident in which people arrested for inciting communal violence were punished or where an impartial commission’s report on the violence was published.

The strange part of all these deliberations however was that the congress, after deriving maximum political mileage out of the incidents, put the blame on the shoulders of the RSS and the BJP. But still today not one person associated with the latter parties has been arrested on charges of being involved in communal riots. On the other hand people whose involvement in inciting the violence has been established beyond a doubt continued to be openly associated with our previous ruling party.

One example of our previous rulers’ indifferences to the plight of riot victims is meerut. After the terrible carnage there, not only were the main culprits allowed to go scot free but ever the drama of holding an investigation into the affair was not enacted. The same apathy was visible in Bhagalpur, Kota,Mahu,Badaun and god knows how many places which saw the blood of innocents flow on the streets. Blood from which it was difficult to make out whether it belonged to a hindu or a muslim.Anyway, in the final analysis that did not matter because whether it was a muslim or a hindu who died, the pain felt by their mothers was the same. Most of the dead were poor men who wished to fight the battle for survival, but the then regime freed them from struggle.

Things, however, are a bit different today and the people who have some sort of selfish interest in the continuance of the Ram Janam Bhoomi-Babri Masjid imbroglio are disheartened. They want the mess which was created by Buta Singh and Rajiv Gandhi to be made worse. During their days in power they tried to stretch the problem beyond repair- never letting leaders of the two communities meet in an atmosphere of amity and Peace. What Buta Singh tried to do instead was to increase the hatred and distrurst amongst the two by feeding lies about each to the other. This not only led to increasing distrust, but also widened the gulf between the two communities. And today the sole

Responsibility for dragging the temporal leaders of both communities in political warfare, for mixing religion with political and making the Ram Janam Bhoomi Babri Masjid issue a tool in the hands of selfish politicians, can be laid at Buta Shing’s door.

The pervious hom minister’s in volvement in these affairs is one reason why during last time’s moni amavasya the Hindu leaders-egged on by our previous rulers who wanted to spread the unrest- were so keen to announce the date for the commencement of construction of the Ram Mandir as early as possible. At the meet, the rejected government’s cadres tied their best to get the date announced.And all the those who under stood what was happening, kept quitebecause they did not want to be accused of treating the new government with Kid Gloves.

Another reason was that, many People were angry with V P Singh because they left that in spite of making special mention of Ram Janam Bhoomi- Babri Masjid in his inaugural address he had made no attempt to resolve the issue. And by the time these people understood that the new prime minister had been till then busy channelising all his energies towards the deteriorating situation in Punjab and the border it was too late.

On February 5, 1990, leaders of the Ram Janam Bhoomi movement and the vishwa Hindu Parishad went to meet the Prime minister in Delhi. The next day in their talks with him they explained their stand to him in great detail and expressed great satisfaction at the Sympathetic listening he gave them. But in spite of their meeting with Singh they remained firm in their decision to go ahead with the construction of the temple on February 14. Later on, these leaders want to meet the home secretary and announced their decision to start the construction in a peaceful manner. They also made it very clear that in case the government tried to stop them, they would all court arrest.

After their statements it seemed as if the talks had failed and confrontation between the government, VHP and Ram Janam Bhoomi leaders was imminent. In order to break the impasse the prime minister invited senior leaders of all supporting parties to dinner the same day to discuss the issue. According to one political leader, consensus was reached on the point that the government would take a tough stand on the issue if need arose would also effect arrests. But before this Atal Behari Vajpayee, leader of the BJP along with Jaswant Singh appealed to the Ram Janam Bhoomi committee to postpone the date of construction. But it was to no avail.

During the dinner, everyone was insistent that the prime minister resolve the issue keeping in mind the general populace’s viewpoint, forgetting that the prime minister may have his own perception of the problem. V.P Singh has always perceived the Ayodhya wrangle as on which was closely associated with the hearts and minds of the Indians.

This was one reason whey he was so disturbed about the idea of taking any legal action. And this was also the reason why he set down to write a heart -rending appeal to all involved faction when everyone had left for the day. The appeal was released the same night.

The appeal changed the whole scene. The Pacifists in the various factions felt the underlying pain and Honesty in the appeal immediately. And in their conversations a point which came up for intense appraisal was that to reject the appeal of a man who had been in power barely for two months and who had inherited the questions of Kashmir and Punjab as his legacy and who also had to contend with a disturbed situation on the western border would be sheer inhumanity. On the other hand, the militants in these factions whose purposes were served by a definite constructions date, rejected the appeal outright, knowing that the unresolved issue could be used to pressurize the incumbent government during the assembly elections. But as soon the pacifists got wind of these intentions, they changed tack.

In the emergency meeting of the Ram Janam Bhoomi committee on feburary 9, when it seemed as if the militant forces would carry the day, a prominent sadhu suddenly got up and questioned the assembled how it was that they were sympathising with Indira and Rajiv Gandhi who had never showed any inclination to even meet, let alone have a diaglogue, with them, and were acting tough with a man who had not only listened and viewed their stand sympathetically but was also willing to talk to all the factions. His statement hit home. Many felt that their present stand could be the way of politicians but it could never be one of Sadhus. The decision to postpone the date was taken forthwith.

The Government also rose to the occasion and promptly announced the formation of a committee which would try and resolve the issue with the participation of all the involved factions. The announcement saw the nation heave a sigh of relief. But the whole controversy has left a lingering question in the minds of the people.Questions which I am often asked.

According to one group or people, will the decision of giving Ram Janam Bhoomi to the Hindus, solve their problems of unemployement disease,exploitation and death? Or will the Muslims after getting the Babri Masjid be free from the problem of illiteracy, unemployment, and an abysmal living standard? If such is not the case then why are we inciting the passion of the poor of these communities to a pitch where there is nothing but blood and death? Anyway, what I would like to know is where are the people whose sole purpose in life is to uplift the poor? To me it seems quite apparent that tile people come forward to fight for the right of the poor they will continue to get involved in these meaningless bloodbaths.

There is another group of people who advocate stern governmental action against the rabble-rouser in Ayodhya. They remember the crushing blow the congress government delivered to the anti-cow slaughter movement on November 7, 1967. It was a blow which knocked the stuffing out of the movement and it spite of Vinoba Bhave also advocating the cause, it could never be revived. These people are all for similar action being taken against the committees.

The language used by the people connected with the Ram Janam Bhoomi-Babri Masjid issue is not one which would promote harmony and ease relation in a democratic process. There is nothing in their language expect the desire to so dreams of heaven and hell to the poor. How I wish these factions had taken up the cause of eradicating illiteracy instead.

When questions such as the above are asked of me, I feel that the process rationalization has begun. But my heart quakes with fear when I think about the consequences of imprudent action by leaders of either community. But hopefully that will not come to pass. For we have people like Vishwanath Pratap Singh amongst us who would prefer to solve these issue keeping the human factor in mind. Also it’s becoming increasingly clear to the leaders of both communities that leading the question into the maze of politics will not take them anywhere and it will be they who will be held responsible for any carnage.

Santosh Bharatiya, Janata Dal, analyses the reasons behind the fall of the Raja’s government.

Was V P Singh against any kind of organization? Do the people not like or accept the anti-Congress theory any more? Has Singh now become just a name in history?

Once again history repeated itself, and this time with such inexorability that it left all parliamentarian in a dilemma. V P Singh became the country’s greatest political leader in just three years and, as a result of the people’s natural aspirations, also became the prime minister. At that time no one would have even dreamt of not making him one. Now, 11 months after becoming prime minister, he is no longer in power and people have started criticising him roundly. There were not many who were crushed by his departure, but the same people who berated him also admitted that an honest and patriotic man had left office. On the night of November 7, when Singh was going to Rashtrapati Bhavan to hand in his resignation, an employee at the prime minister’s residence sighed and said, “It was the first time after independence that for 11 months no one could enter the prime minister’s residence on the strength of money.”

But is honesty the only qualification necessary for running a country? Did Singh really believe that everyone in his cabinet was as honest as him? Was he really unable to ascertain as to who pulled the carpet from under him and when? There is a long list of such questions in the minds of the populace. Now- a day I am constantly surrounded by people who, despite their love for Singh, are very angry with him too. These people feed that Singh was unsuccessful in fulfilling his mission and that it will be a long time before he regains confidence. Everywhere in the country people, angry and bewildered, are asking questions like: Was Singh against any kind of organization? Do the people not like or accept the anti-Congress theory any more? Has Singh now become just a name in the history?

There are no straight answers to these questions. If we take a quick look at the chain of events we will be able to discuss where exactly the trouble started. Did the Janata Dal ever become a reality? Or was it just an assemblage of some trusted people of certain leaders?

In 1977, defeat had so baffled the Opposition leaders that they had lost all courage. Not one of them would step out to call a public meeting, and none of them was willing to meet the party works either. In 1987, when V P Singh started his agitation against the Congresss-I, no major Opposition leader came forward to meet him for the first four months. They felt that the crowds at his meetings came not to hear him but only to see him. Later also they continued to feel the same despite the fact that there were always huge crowds at Singh’s residence.

In September 1987, the Opposition leaders started feeling more warmly towards Singh because they noticed the tumultuous reception he received everywhere. V P Singh toured the whole country and in his simple language explained various issues to the people and during his talks established two simple facts. The first was that he was an honest man and the second that he was a man of masses. After so many years of independence the common man had been disillusioned and was convinced that an honest leader in the Opposition ranks was impossibility and talk of ideals was so much baloney. That is why Singh seemed like a whiff of fresh air to them. Just before the general election V P Singh had toured the whole country and convinced the people that the government which would be formed after the elections would be truly a government of the people and that it would fight the fundamental problems facing the country. The youth blindly accepted Singh’s promise that they would really get the right to work and that they would be able to find their way out of the unemployment jungle.

Singh toured the whole country, and even a party of which he was a chairperson was launched, but the thing which could not be clarified was unity. The only use the Opposition leaders had for Singh was that he was a sure-fie candidate who could win them elections. Ad Singh, busy changing the atmosphere of the country, failed to find people who thought like him, who were fighting for him and who were busy mobilizing the people. When it was time to select candidates for the elections, Singh had no names to put forward. If there was a list of likely candidates it was Arun Nehru’s who had put down names of people who had quit the Congress in it. It is possible that V P Singh thought that considering his first battle was to who stood for the elections, whose party he belonged to. Also, what did it matter with whom an alliance was forged? Apparently he failed to understand that such battles were not fought in stages.

All the nominations for the Lok Sabha elections were distributed amongst the men of Devi Lal, Chandra Shekhar, Mulayam Singh, Ajit Singh, Ramkrishna Hegde and George Fernandes. The fear of votes being divided led to too many places being left vacant for the BJP to contest. Indications of BJP anger and desire to marginalize Singh were available during the elections itself, but it is quite difficult to say whether Singh was aware of it. Singh had requested all leaders of the BJP not to put up a candidate for the Farrukabad seat but just with the intention of slighting him they did. And not only that, they even nominated a candidate for one of Singh’s own vidhan sabha seat.

It is true that while on the one hand V P Singh was busy making a battle-plan to oust Rajiv Gandhi, on the other his fellow partymen were selecting candidates for the Lok Sabha who would help them in preventing his election to the prime minister’s post. At that time I remember one editor telling me that even though the Congress would lose, V P Singh would not become the prime minister because his partymen would not let him. I had replied that the pressure from the people would not only make Singh the prime minister but would also get the government to function. Only half of my prediction came true.

During the November 7 debate on the confidence motion, Devi Lal in no uncertain terms said that at no stage did he or Chandra Shekar accept V P Singh as a leader and it was only as a part of the strategy to win elections that they had used him and made him prime minister. When their purpose was served they started proceedings to remove him.

From the time he quit the Congress-I till the elections, while V P Singh gave no indication whether he would fight the elections or not, he constantly made it known that his whole battle strategy would be drawn out by Arun Nehru. The Opposition leaders had, and still have, reservations about Arun Nehru. And as such Singh’s indications raised in the minds of other leaders doubts about his political integrity. They also served to warn them. They started seeing Singh’s complicity in every step Arun Nehru took. Arun Nehru, on his part, made statements to the press to the effect that he was responsible for drawing out Singh’s strategy, and that he also bore the expenses for them. There was never any attempt from Singh’s side to deny these statements. Whether Arun Nehru met Ajit Singh, Mulayam Singh, Chandra Shekhar or Devi Lal, or the BJP or the CPM, everyone thought this was another one of V P Singh’s scheme whereby he would align himself with different people and, taking advantage of their inter-personal rivalry, try and become their leader. The truth, in fact, was far from this.

Scepticism directed towards Arun Nehru was soon directed towards V P Singh. That is why care was taken to see that none of the candidates nomated by Arun Nehru were given tickets for the general elections. It was around this time that the unannounced battle strategy of outstanding Singh from the position of India’s premier post started to take shape in the mind of Opposition leaders. Unfortunately, during this period, anyone who attempted to get close to Singh flet that he was not being given the prime minister’s full confidence. This invariably led to the person withdrawing from him. It is possible that this strategy of not trusting anyone was Arun Nehru’s advice to Singh or may be, it was a decision Singh took himself. But whoever the strategist, all the reticence led to Singh’s friends moving away from him.

All those who had no desire to see the economy change became V P Singh’s enemies, byut the question is, did Singh have the blueprint of a better system with him?

The dilemma of the situation was that no one wanted to talk to Arun Nehru and there was no one else who they could talk to and who would convey their message to V P Singh. The situation led to the creation of many intrigues. All the Opposition leaders separately reached the decision to use Singh to win the elections and then see what to do about him.

The election results were announced and a curious situation developed. Only 144 Janata Dal men succeeded in getting themselves elected. On Biju Patanaik’s advice Devi Lal decided to make V P Singh the leader without informing Chandra Shekhar. This possibly was Singh’s second folly. He should have insisted upon holding elections within the party to decide who the leader would be. One doesn’t know what hand Arun Nehru had in formulating this strategy but according to a member present during that meeting, the mind behind the scheme was most probably his. The CPM and BJP gave their assent to the proposal and V P Singh formed his government.

Both the BJP and the CPM had their own different reasons for supporting the Janata Dal. The BJP thought that just like it had pressurised the Janata Dal and managed to capture ninety seats in te Hindi belt, similarly, by applying pressure itg would strengthen its postion in the administration and using V P Singh, would emerge as the strongest party in north India. The CPM thought that it would increase its influence in the north, where it currently has no status, by using V P Singh. Both the parties had one name which they would use to pressurise Singh- Arun Nehru’s. Strangely enough, Arun Nehru shared the same rapport with Lal Krishna Advani and Jyoti Basu. Coincidentally, in political circles the close relationship Arun Nehru shared with Dhirubhai Ambani, who avowed aim was to sabotage V P Singh’s political career, was also much-talked about.

V P Singh raised a lot of expectations in the minds of the people in the past three years. The biggest was that the new government which would be formed would be theirs. A government in whose reign the prices would fall, where the education system would change, where a battle would be launched against unemployment, where justice would be cheaper, where there would be roads to connect the villages to the cities, where the farmer would receive his due for his produce and where there would be hope for the future.

When V P Singh spoke about fighting against the system the people felt that he was pledging to do the same. Changing the economy was the basic promise of this fight. All those who had no desire to see the economy change became Singh’s enemies, but the question is, did Singh have the blueprint of a better system with him?

How close V P Singh’s rule of 11 months came to fulfilling this hope, we will leave it for the people to decide. But the fact that during these months there was a sharp increase in prices which the government did nothing to stop has to be accepted. That despite the setting-up of a committee to review the education system the government’s desire to change the set-up was not visible. The fight against unemployment remained a dream.

Even the reservation of 836 products to be manufactured exclusively by the small scale sector could not be done. If the big industrial houses had manufactured them they would have sold them only in the foreign markets. Lakhs of people would have been ensured jobs by this decision alone. If priority had been given to making roads, schools and hospitals in the villages in the five years plan, then for the first time after independence the people would have felt that the government was sympathetic to their plight. Not a single decision which would have alleviated the common man’s misery could be taken and this led to a new wave of discontent.

Once, while I was returning home in a friend’s car, I struct-up a conversation with his driver. I asked him his opinion of the government’s performance. It was bad. I tried to explain him the financial mess, the balance of payment problem, the Kashmir and Punjab problems which the Congress-I had left behind. His answer to my explanation shocked me to the core. He said, “Sir, Kashmir and Punjab are just games played by big men like you. They are not our problems. You give Kashmir to Pakistan, we don’t want it. I have a small child who can not be breasted by my wife and the cost of power milk is Rs. 80 per tin. How will I keep the child alive? Dalda is Rs. 65 per kilo, dal Rs. 20 a kilo. We do not even dare think of buying vegetables. You tell me, we elected you and njow you are trying to kill us?” We have shattered the dreams of that poor man. What have we given him to live for? All the arguments we gave on his behalf were just useless excuses. This was the thing the Janata Dal government was unable to understand.

When Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister he had full control over all the ministers and it was the PMO which took all the important decisions which were then conveyed to all relevant departments. In a way it was a very repressed atmosphere. Let alone give decisions, ministers were afraid of offering opinions. V P Singh did the exact opposite. He gave a free rein to all his ministers and in the process nullified the status of the prime minister’s office. Slowly the freedom given to the ministers became so great that all co-ordination between the various ministers was lost, and a feeling that there was not one but many prime minister engendered. The concept of inner-party democracy was used so clumsily, that the cabinet was plunged in anarchy.

All the ministers had become so independent and arrogant that they felt it was beneath their dignity to talk to the Janata Dal MPs. When the MPs approached them for some community work they thought that the MP was trying to make a fast buck through the whole thing. Sometimes the ministers would even think it a favour to accept the MPs’ greetings. For them it was more of a honour to fraternise with the people of the Congress and BJP.

All the party workers who had struggled for three years found the doors of not only the ministers closed to them but also that of the prime minister.

The ministers’ willfulness reached the limit when they stopped attending the Friday meeting of the parliamentary board of the party. Many felt that it was an insult to do so. At every party meeting, complaints against the working of various departments and the ministers were lodged with V P Singh . Singh would listen to them but was not able to offer any solutions and, despite his injunctions, his ministers never showed up for the meetings. They thought that Singh would not be able to take any action against them. And the Janata Dal parliamentarians were limited by the knowledge that however much they complained, no action would be taken.

On the one hand while the ministers refused to listen to the problems of their own MPs, they helped fulfil the Congress-I’s and BJP’s requests with great alacrity. Naturally, the anger against them grew. At the same time there were rumours about the ministers which the MPs were willing to believe only too readily. There was no cohesion within the party, no important ministers attended the party meetings and things had come to a pass when the complaints made to the prime minister had no effect.

Often the MPs would talk amongst themselves of how the ministers had stopped behaving in a parliamentary manner. One example was their growing disdain towards the party cadres. The party workers got no position in the Board of directors of Banks and advisory committees of ministries, departments. There was no organisation either. If there was, then at least some workers would

have felt satisfied that a few of their fellow partymen had entered the Parliament and the state assemblies and that they were also equally important. Every time there was talk for the need for organisation V P Singh would say that it was Chairman Bommai’s responsibility. He was always trying to close his eyes to the fact that the people had made him the centre of confidence and as such, the responsibility of work not done would always fall on him irrespective of the fact who was actually supposed to do it. All the party workers who had struggled for three years found the doors of not only the ministers closed to them but also those of the prime minister. And despite their repeated requests they were not able to gain entry into the prime minister’s residence.

What could the government do in such a situation? Undoubtedly many laws were promulgated during the first few months, but what was really required was not done. What the people wanted was that at least after 40 years of independence their villages should be connected to the cities, that there should be connected to the cities, that there should be at least one dispensary shared by 4-5 villages where a cure for their coughs and colds was available, that there should be a school where their children could get primary education at least. After 40 years we could not even get a guarantee for a glass of clean drinking water from the government. These small jobs got lost amidst the big projects and even we forgot that the lives of the poor villagers were connected to the result of these small jobs.

Three months after the formation of the government, Devi Lal or Chandra Shekhar started to create some political problem or other every second week. Possibly this was the first government which was criticised not so much by the Opposition than by its own leaders. Approximately every month there would be a stability crisis and once every two months the functioning of the government would stop. The prime minister had to seek a vote of confidence from his party at least three times because of the doubts planted by some party members that he had lost support.

Kashmir, Punjab and Ram Janam Bhoomi were the three problems which had not been created by V P Singh, but the people had set their hopes on him to solve them. And though Singh made an honest attempt at solving them, there was something wrong with the strategy he used. he established too many channels and opened too many circuits to solve the problems. Anyone who claimed to have a solution was asked to try and solve the problem. But the people who wer at the centre of the problem were baffled by this, because all the people who went to them said they were talking on behalf of Singh. Those people felt that Singh was not serious about resolving the issue and that he was only complicating the matters more. They could never understand who was Singh’s emissary and who they could talk to if need arose. And the people who were representing the PM never could decide what direction their arguments should take because the PM never told them what he wanted.

Suddenly, one day, news came that the journalist who had been drawing a fat salary from Dhirubhai’s future newspaper had become the prime minister’s press adviser.

The reasons behind the PM’s reticence was explained by three ministers to their friends. Chandra Shekhar would often say that whenever he met Singh, the PM never asked him for advice or suggestions on any issue. Nor did he ever take him into his confidence. Devi Lal says that till the end he wanted Singh to hand over some responsibility to him and trust him, but Singh never did that. According to Advani, though there were weekly Tuesday night dinners, no attempt to discuss any problem seriously was ever made. Atal Behari Vajpayee says that each time he tried to talk to Singh, midway through the latter would call up Vinod Pande and start discussing the problem with him.

With the intention of establishing a healthy democratic society V P Singh put an end to all political spying. The result was that there were many intrigues against him and he did not ever come to know about them. Political meetings took place at the prompting of foreigners a Bombay seth spent crores trying to gain a controlling hand in the politics but Singh remained unaware of all that.

Another result of this was that he remained totally ignorant about the growing discontent with in the party. If he had known about it, then surely he would have done something to curb it. The flow of information to him was so restricted that when Chauthala was re-elected chief minister of Haryana he received the news not from his agents within the party but from a news agency. The news was flashed in the 7.30 news bulletins but according to P Uendra when at 8 he asked the chief of RAW about it, the chief asked with some surprise, “Is it so?” A high official of the IB told me that he had passed on this information to the PM’s secretary Sharma. But like always the secretary did not forward the information. The question which arises here is, who is to blame for these happenings?

At the beginning of the new governments’ tenure, the bureaucracy was afraid that there was now a strict PM at the helm who would question them about everything. Bureaucrats in league with the businessmen wondered what treatment would be meted out to them. But within two months they realised that their freedom would not only remain intact but would grow. That the decision to make Vinod Pande a cabinet secretary was a good one is being doubted now because he had no control over the bureaucracy. Any decision which could not get implemented by him. His temperament and attitude only served to aggravate the people; and in every decison he took he tried to prove that the PM wanted it so. Unwittingly may be, but he stated giving of indications that all power rested in his hands. The ministers tried to talk to Vinod Pande, who would himself go and tell the ministers what the PM thought of them. The appointment of Vinod Pande’s relatives on some of the most coveted posts in the country raised the question of his credibility.

Dhirubhai Ambani is the country’s leading industrialist and he also has a deep interest in politics. He also has a stong desire to control it. Often he has been successful in doing so. His antagonism agains Singh is not a hidden fact. Two months till his taking over office the bureaucrats were worried about what V P Singh’s attitude towards them or Dhirubhai Ambani’s would be. At the same time Custom and Income tax officers close to Dhirubhai Ambani were being selected for office and Dhirubhai was assuring them of his constant backing.

Suddenly one day news came that a journalist who had been drawing a fat salary from Dhirubhai’s future newspaper had become the prime minister’s press adviser. Well wishers of Singh were greatly surprised at this news because all this time he hade been vehemently opposing the recrutiing of a press adviser. The result of this move was that the bureaucracy felt that if Dhirubhai Ambani was so powerful that he could place his man in prime minister’s house in a position so close to the PM it would be better to stay loyal to him.

It was at this stage that the bureaucracy picked up courage to disobey Singh’s orders and the journalists who had found no fault with Singh for three years suddenly ranged against him. They could not understand how one of their men could make contact with someone they could not even think about. Decisions were made in Delhi and Dhirubhai Ambani was informed of them because the bureaucracy was no longer loyal to Singh.

One example of this will suffice. The decision to raise the prices of all petroleum products was announced by the finance ministry on Monday morning but Dhirubhai Ambani’s newspaper Sunday Observe published the news a day before!

The finance ministry and its bureaucrats were not working under V P Singh at all. The decision to raise the price of petrol a day before Diwali, then allowing the rumour that petrol would be rationed, all these were done and there was no official to dispel them.

When Advani had announced that in case he was arrested he would withdraw support from the government why was a surcharge of 24 percent levied on the petroleum products? Political sagacity demanded a wait till October 30, and then if the government remained a surchage could have been imposed or, alternatively, the new government which took over would have imposed it. But Dandavate’s decision reduced not only the Janata Dal’s popularity but also highlighted the weaknesses of its political insight.

VP Singh’s biggest enemy in his house was Doordarshan. For 11 months Doordarshan did not report on any issue that Singh had made the basis of his politics and even if we ignore issues, the credit for fanning 75 percent of anti-Mandal agitation goes to Doordarshan.

Devi Lal successfully managed to create an atmosphere of doubt about Arun Nehru which was similar to the one created about Rajiv Gandhi before the elections.

It glamorised incidents of violence, and self-immolation. But it never bothered to explain to the people what the commission was all about. And the October 2 rally in which 50,000 people participated, it boradcast as ” a massive rally of two lakh people.” that the Mandal commission addresses itself not to the question of employment opportunities but to social justice was never made known by Doordarshan. The Babri masjid issue on which the government fell was never discussed by Doordarshan. On the contrary, it gave the impression that Singh and the Janata Dal were against the construction of the temple. The fact was the Singh wanted a grand temple to be made, but not at tghe cost of the masjid.

Even the two major leaders of the VHP Mahant Avaidyanath and Swami Chinmayananda felt that a temple which would keep the masjid intact should be made. After all Ram is omnipresent and does not teach one to murder others.

The tragedy was that V P Singh never had time to listen to anyone who wished him well. He always listened to people who wanted to oust him. He had no time for his cabinet, CCPA’s meetings, bureaucrats, foreign dignitaries, files or senior leaders of the Janata Dal from whom he could find out what the country thought of him. Excluding the IB, it’s only the party workers of the Dal, journalists MPs and MLAs who can feel the pulse of the country. But V P Singh had no clue about the people’s feelings for him for the last six months.

Will the Bofors controversy be decided against us? We made the biggest political mistake of not telling the nation what we were doing to solve the Bofors scandal. Only when the Congress-I raised the issue in Parliament did we speak. Devi Lal successfully managed to create an atmosphere of doubt about Arun Nehru which was similar to the one created about Rajiv Gandhi before the general election.

If, during the hearings of the scandal, names of Rajiv Gandhi’s relatives do not figure, then chances are that he will use it as a political up being branded culprits without any proof. Because in the replies given to rumours generated by Devi Lal it has not been said that Arun Nehru is not involved with Bofors whoever else might be.

There was a meeting of the parliamentary board of the Janata Dal in the central hall of Parliament on August 6. At the meeting there was an intense demand for the implementation of the Mandal commission report. Incidentally, the same people who hade made this demand was the first step in fulfilling the manifesto promises of the party. During the meeting not one MP said that the report should not be implemented or that the implementation should be postponed for some time. This step which was raised in the direction of social justice possibly surprised those who wanted to maintain the status quo. These people started spreading canards about the report and linked it up with the employment issues. Un-employment is a sensitive issue with the youth and when they realized that their chances would be further limited by the report they got agitated. The misunderstanding reached such limits that even those who were benefited by the report took to the streets against it.

The name V P Singh does not represent a person, it represents a stream of thought which is synonymous with honesty and idealism.

The step was so momentous that the people were taken by surprise. Rajiv Gandhi took to the roads for a satbhavna yatra while Advani started a rath yatra. The BJP played with the nation’s hope and confidence and the result was a blood-bath. Ram’s name was used to attain selfish political ends. Advani thought that his rath yatra was political and according to Times of India, November 18, he fixed the election symbol of his party, the lotus, on his chariot. Afterwards Ashok Singhal made a statement to the effect that they did not want to break the masjid, they only wanted to make a temple. This statement was no different from the one Singh was making. But at the time the only motive of the BJP and the VHP was to pull down the Singh government. That is why they stopped the kar seva immediately after Singh’s resignation. Both the Congress and the BJP were afraid that if Singh was successful in dealing with the myraid problems their efforts to malign him would come to nought. Apparently the BJP could not stomach anyone talking respectfully to them. Anyone who depended on them gave them a moral weapon which they turned into a tool for blackmail.

V P Singh acquired the image of a soft fighter while the people had thought that he would fight their problems like the phantom. Indians often rest their hopes of being delivered from their problems on one person and this time they did the same. The people had selected Singh because they want to take revenge for the treatment meted out to them for forty years by the ruling party. But Singh did not do so. When the elections were held the people took the candidates of BJP and the Left Front to be the candidates of Singh and at that time all these candidates promised to elect Singh the prime minister. But on reaching the Parliament they all went their separate ways and announced their intention of being supporters rather than participants in Singh’s government. V P Singh’s tameness became so well-known that he was called stupid and idiotic on the front-page editorial of a newspaper.

Once during his speech Ram Vilas Paswan, the harijan leader, in V P Singh’s presence made a statement that Jagjivan Ram’s generation would be forgotten and now it was Ram Vilas Paswan’s generation which would take over. In those days it used to seem as if all power resided elsewhere and V P Singh was only using it competently. The 11 month rule and the unbalanced behaviour of all national leaders led to a dangerous situation and that was that V P was relegated to the status of a leader of a group rather than of a nation and was made to be one among many leaders.

Now with the Janta Dal having split, how will the Dal function? Will V P Singh be once again used by the people who dream of becoming prime minister? The use these people have of V P Singh is limited to using him as a crowd-puller who will ensure the election of their candidate from that constituency.

Here I would like to make my view-point clear. V.P. Singh’s greatest strength is the people’s confidence in him that he will be able to solve their problems. Therefore, only he is the leader and there should be no place for factionalism in the party. Anyone who has doubts about Singh’s strength, his ideology and honesty should leave the Janata Dal and look for some other party. The name V P Singh does not represent a person, it represents a stream of thought which is synonymous with honesty and idealism.

This is where V P Singh will be tested anew. Will he be able to stop the foolish infighting in his party? Will he be able to distance himself from those who have brought things to such a pass? Will the party workers who had been sidelined for so long receive the respect due to them? Will he be able to get his partymen to obey him or will he once again succumb to their pressures and let the atmosphere of confusion prevail within the party? He has been accused of being a slow decision-maker. But now he will have to take decisions, and fast. He will have to do this immediately before people lose confidence in him completely.

Now let us turn to the possible answers to some fundamental questions. V P Singh’s brand of politics was not wrong. It was only that it left a lot of scope for mistakes in execution is a must. It was also not as if the people had wrong expectations of him because even today he is capable of fulfilling them. He has the will power too but he will have to list out his priorities very clearly and make an earnest and immediate attempt to deal with problems directly confronting the common man. The answer to the question why people don’t say loyal to V P Singh is also not too difficult. Singh today possibly has the most committed cadre, but he does not have the time to pay attention to them. Actually Singh has a tendency to pay more attention to his opponents or to his new acquaintances. In politics this is called opportunism but for someone who has to fight a battle for the improvement of society and who has to write a new chapter in history, such methods will have to be given up. If this does not happen then the Janata Dal workers will have to search for their address care of some other party. And those who can’t do this will have to reconsider their position in politics. It’s not always looking for crowds that is important. We have seen where that led us in the past three years when we ensnared our politics in the web of factions and self-serving leaders. It will be dangerous if we once again fall in the pitfall of watching crowd’s. What is necessary now is to search for a leader for this crowd.

History does not give one a chance too often. Neither does it always forgive one’s mistakes. Those who ignore the demands of time are treated very callously by it.

V P Singh has not become just a name in history, he will emerge once again whether anyone supports him or not. His weaknesses always become his strengths but even those should not be considered week which have been trying to make Singh a part of history. The funny part is that it is Singh himself who encourages such forces. He has this habit of creating demons. And once a demon is born it is very difficult to kill it. An ordinary journalist like me can only warn Singh that history does not give one a chance too often. Neither does it always forgive one’s mistakes. Those who ignore the demands of time are treated very callously by it. So now it is only in Singh’s hand and no one else’s what sort of a future he makes for himself.

It is essential that even Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar knows of these incidents which occurred in the past 11 months, because he has the inspiring factor of may of them. The chance history has given him is nothing to be proud of, but whether he makes it worthwhile or not is in his hands now. If he himself starts dong the things which angered him in the past, then he will be a contradiction within the party. I sincerely hope that he is able to reach the goals he has set for himself and wish that he starts working towards those goals which he felt were essential for the nation as soon as possible.

Santosh Bhartiya analyses the probable reasons behind the voting trends, in this thought-provoking essay.

If it is only the destination which is known and not the way to it, then very often a crossroad can leave one stranded. The dilemma of selecting the right path is further compounded when some people claim that they are the only ones who know the right way. At such times it’s better to stop and reflect because only then can one circumvent the problems which are bound to arise if one select the wrong way- one which reaches not our destination but someone else’s. And now that the general and assembly elections are over and done with, it’s time we sat down and analysed the results.

The first, and for some the most, surprising result of the Lok Sabha elections was the overwhelming victory of the Janta Dal in Uttar Pradesh. This victory, for a party, which has no organizational network worth the name in the state, is rather inexplicable. But to a political observer it is quite apparent that the victory was mainly due to the people’s determination over the past three years to vote the Congress out of power. A result of which was that every Opposition candidate found himself elected when pitted against a congressman. Most of these candidates, belonging either to the Janata Dal, the BJP or the regional parties fought the election on the promise that they would replace the corrupt, inefficient government with one that works, and with the VP Singh versus Rajiv Gandhi slogan as their catchphrase.

A point to be noted however is that neither the Dal, the BJP nor the regional parties provided any sort of official legitimacy to this stand-off between the Raja and Rajiv. So, when the elections for choosing the prime minister were delayed by two days, the country was gripped by tension, the rumours regarding the role of a rich businessman influencing the selection of prime minister became rampant. At that time, I remember may legislators telling me the people in case VP Singh was not made prime minister.

Another point which disturbed them greatly was that now in the world would they be able to prove VP Singh’s innocence in the Bofors case without him coming to power. So it was quite natural that the nation and the legislators heaved a sigh of relief when he was finally made prime minister. The Indian populace having successfully voted the Janta Dal to power was also successful in pressuring the party to select the leaders it wanted. In the south, however it was a different story altogether.

Rajiv Gandhi’s victory in the southern states was seen by many congressmen as the acceptance of Rajiv and his policies there. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Janta Dal’s lukewarm performance in the south was mainly due to the absence of any party organization in the region. And the absence of any such network was not because of negligence, but for the simple reason of avoiding misunderstandings between the various components of the National Front. Incidently, it was this suicidal decision of the Janta Dal which resulted in such abysmal performance in states like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Janata Dal has done some good work in Karnataka, but as the saying goes, a pinch of poison is enough to kill, and so internal fightings within the party’s state unit spelt its doom. Having poisoned itself in the same way as the Janata Party did in 1977, the party dlid in ratings and that too at a time when the political climate was the most salubrious. There were no queues at ration shops, sugar sold at Rs. 2.40 and inflation and corruption were firmly under control.

In my opinion, one of the main causes for the Janata Dal’s defeat in the south was that it didn’t project VP Singh as a viable option to Rajiv Gandhi. What it did instead was to pit a regional leader like Ramakrishna Hegde against the former prime minister in Karnataka. The pattern was repeated in other states too, and Rajiv Gandhi found himself facing comparative light weights like N.T. Ramarao in Andhra Pradesh and M Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu. Naturally the people having seen these leaders perform reacted in the way they did.

Also, the lack of posters and pamphlets of the Janta Dal discussing its policies and programmes and VP Singh’s philosophy contributed towards the near total ignorance of the people about VP Singh and his policies. Given the circumstance then the result was not surprising actually many congressmen DMK legislators told me that in case the Dal had projected Singh as a leader in the south. The results would have closely imitated those of the north. So I feel that the congress victory in the south is more due to the Janta Dal’s miscalculations than due to its policies or stand on various national issues. The result in the south have quite easily let the congress and the Janta Das develop misconceptions about themselves.

One party which finds itself in a happy position however, is the BJP, which having taken advantage of the absence of the Janta Dal’s cadres in most states, cashed in on its link up with the party. And the Dal instead consolidating its position in states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat lost a large chunks of seats to the BJP in an electoral arrangement prompted mainly by the infighting within the party.

The only consolation in the whole affair was that though the Janata Dal’s organization was similarly absent in UP and Bihar, the motivation and the will power necessary to win was present among their party workers. And it is precisely this will power which was absent in Bihar and Himachal. The BJP predictably took advantage of this situation and won. But this victory should by no means be taken to be indicative of the BJP strength in the area. To do so would be wishful thinking. I make this statement because in Uttar Pradesh wherever the party was involved in a triangular contest with the Janta Dal and the congress, it lost. Bareilly and Etah were the only exception where a Hindu BJP candidate won over the Janata Dal and the congress’s muslim candidate. How true will it be to say that the Janata Dal won the last election. Thanks to a communal hindu vote? That the hindus having forgotten issues like inflation, rising prices, etc., concentrated only on the Ram Janam Bhoomi wrangle and let the construction of a temple in Ayodhya over ride all their other concerns. It was not possible to get an answer to this question in the general elections mainly because we had no public barometer to gauge the truth from. But the answer could definitely be gauged from the Vidhan Sabha results. In Maharashtra, the BJP, in an electoral alliance with the Shiv Sena, gave the formation of a hindu rashtra top priority. The initial reaction of most observers was that the rhetoric would do the trick and the combine would get a thumping majority and Bal Thackeray would be the next chief minister. The results, however, surprised everyone. The people of Maharashtra in a spontaneous gesture rejected the BJP’s and Shiv Sena’s communal politics and opted for the Congress. Their vote was for economic, and not communal issues.

In Bihar too, the BJP had made Ayodhya its constant refrain. But there too the people voted for the party which promised succour for the poor and underprivileged. In Rajasthan and Gujarat the result was the same for the BJP. So what does all this prove? That though issues like Ram Janam Bhoomi may be emotional ones for the common populace, when the question of its daily bread and butter arises, it stands up to give a decision and the right one usually. So, the Janata Dal may have lost in a couple of place but this defeat is not the defeat of the party but of those incapable candidates who put their selfish interests above the party’s ideals.

Conflicts in ideologies should always be welcomed and keeping this in mind I am an admirer of the BJP. Their cadres are firm believers in their party’s policies and will do anything to uphold their policies. During the Vidhan Sabha elections they had posters of VP Singh printed and went around convincing villagers that to vote for them would be to vote for him. On the other hand, the Janata Dal had only a minimal amount of posters of V P Singh printed for the general elections and did not bother to get more for the assembly polls. But yes, some candidates who were able to afford it, got posters of V P Singh printed. This is one reason why some sort of a struggle seems imminent in the future and every one should be prepared for this struggle. The only thing I am scared of is that, will the Janata Dal be able to face up to this struggle organizationally or not? This struggle will have to e undertaken by people outside the ambit of the Dal. The only danager in this could be that the people in control of the Dal could feel that they are the cause of the struggle. The Lok Sabha and assembly elections also will be to a certain extent responsible for this misconception.

In a propaganda similar to the one undertaken by Hitler and Goebbels, many people are today screaming themselves hoarse about the happenings in Kashmir and Punjab. They not only want answers to their questions but are also demanding full information on the current situation in the states. My opinion is that these people should be asked why having been in power just three to four months back, did they create a situation which led to the Kashmiris turning anti-India, and the Punjabi psyche being wounded in a way which will take years to heal. Also, one should ask them how many all party meets they held during their days in power and why were they so anti-press? Are Punjab and Kashimr not proof of these parties’ anti-India policies? What is really shameful however is that having crossed all limits of decency this party pretends to be one beneficial for the country. The authority to talk about all major national issues I think should be given only to the Janata Dal, the BJP and the regional parties. On behalf of the Congress if it is Kamalapati Tripathi, Narain Dutt Tiwari, Jagannath Mishra or Vasant Sathe who talk, then there are some chances of finding a solution. But if it is Rajiv Gandhi who talks, then no solution is possible, because he is like the fool who only knows how to tangle a thread and who having issued challenges to other to untangle it, is himself always ready to break it.

So, it’s time we stopped and listened to the ideological and other difference amongst the BJP, the regional parties and the Janata Dal, because only a constant dialogue will dispel doubts and reveal a clear path. One must always remember that it was from such dialogue and unrest that the Janata Dal emerged.

V P Singh has been constantly talking about the awakening of the people apart from discussing other questions of administration. In my opinion this awakening should be sought about rapidly by the Dal and the job of human reconstruction started forewith. Today there are not many places for the intelligentsia, the youth and those who want a change in the administration in the Dal. In order to facilitate their entry it becomes imperative that the existing wall in the party be broken down and these people invited to lay the foundations for the struggle for change. It is absolutely essential that the Janata Dal transforms itself from being a party fulfilling the desires of heads of religious mutts, to one which will fulfil the needs and desires of the people.

One of the main causes for the Janata Dal’s defeat in the south was that it didn’t project V P Singh as a viable option to Rajiv Gandhi. Instead it pitted regional leaders against him who seemed like comparative lightweights.

The newspapers of our country devote a lot of space to this person’s grievances. This because Indian journalists like to leave no stone unturned to help the people forget. But even if newspapermen forget the events of the past three years, the people will not. They remember, and remember quite well, the desperate strategies of the previous regime to make corruption a socially accepted concept. They also remember the selves of the tragedy of Punjab any more. A tragedy compounded by the most barbaric law on earth, laws which took away a citizen’s right to live. In a Punjab where a tall, muscular physique was considered something to be proud of became something which was synonymous with terrorists. The prosperous villages of Punjab became empty of people between the ages of 16 to 40 years. Youngsters, brash or intelligent, were either killed or jailed. Those who were spared either crossed the borders or emigrated to big cities like Bombay and Calcutta where they could lost themselves and their identity. And Punjab, deprived of its youth, groaned with the weight of its old, helpless populace. It was a groan which could be heard by every outsider who visited Punjab.

Should we try and forget the people who were responsible for corrupting our police force? In the create the terrorists and then kill them to collect their rewards.

We should forget another reality about Punjab, mainly because we do not know anything about it. The reality of ruling party members drawing money from secret government accounts on the pretext of starting spy networks to get information about terrorists, to try and break into their ranks and may be make moles of some of them. It is a fact that the greed of some of the politicians in Punjab had reached such a limit that they felt it their bounden duty to squash any peace initiative. Crores of rupees were lost by the state this way. Punjab should burn, was their motto then, and it is so now also. That is why they feel that the present peace initiative in Punjab is leading the country towards am abyss; what they want is that Punjab should turn septic, so that they can continue to such its pus. People who branded a brave, patriotic, proud community a bunch of traitors want things to continue the same way.

Can anyone provide answers to the questions as to how the state from where the most well-known love stories of Heer Ranjha or Sohni Mahiwal come and which once resounded with the sweet songs of Heer now resounds with abuses and curses? Who is responsible for turning the state of love and romance into a crematorium? Will the powers responsible for the carriage frighten us forever with their unholy actions?

Today Kashmir is buring and the descendants of the people who set fire to it 30 eyars ago are using it to fulfil their own selfish motives. No developmental or employment opportunities ever came the way of Kashmir. Dreams of freedom and prosperity were constantly shared with the people of Kashmir by our neighbouring countries. But we did.

WHO IS TO BLAME?

Are the charges of imcomplete, favouritism, slackness made by the Congress-I on the performance of the Janata Dal government valid? What role have they themselves played in taking the country to the edge of the precipice?

Santosh Bharatiya, editor, Chauthi Duniya, and Janata Dal MP, assesses the charges and analysis the performance of the Congress while it was in power.

dearth of honest men while the dishonest thrived. So much so that a stage had been reached where even bus conductors wouldn’t return excess fare saying that if the rich and powerful could take 60 crores without anyone batting an eyelid, why couldn’t they keep 50 paise? They remember the days when it had become customary in banks to say that a commission of seven-and-a half percent more? It was also being said that commissions should be made legal. And the things which the British did not covertly in the Raj days came to be done openly by people closely connected to the previous government- namely, that of draining the country of its wealth.

We do not have to remind our past five years a sepoy could knock on anyone’s door and declare him be a terrorist. After listening to which the poor man would be so terrified that to get his name off the list of supsects he would sell his jewellery, mortgage his land and give the money collected to the police. Another aspect of the whole drama was the rush to collect rewards after killing these so-called terrorists. In seven years most of the terrorists killed by the police were neither mentioned by name in police records nor were their names ever published in the “wanted” terrorists’ list. The money received on killing a terrorist is legal or “white” premise transferred Rs. 11 lakhs to their accounts as money earned for killing a terrorist. The police used to not take heed, instead we offered them dreams of destruction and instability. The people of the state were given the impression that the Government of India was against them, while the people of the rest of the country were told that every person in Kashmir was a Pakistani sympathiser. And all this while the government neither faced up to the Kashmiri anger with anger or with love. Instead, using hatred and distrust they turned what is known as the ‘heaven on earth’ into an Indian hell.

Today the people who are raising their voice in Kashmir are behaving as though the problem has come up over the last month. And these are the very same people who remained in power in Kashmir throughout, controlling the reins either themselves or through their stooges, overruling the laws of the state and insulting the Kashmiri people. Their actions created a set of people who found a perfect tool to create trouble in Kashmir – their way of showing defiance was to turn pro-Pakistani. Whenever the interests of this group were hurt, they raised pro-Pakistani slogans on behalf of the people of Kashmir. Till two months back these people were found useful by the then government in power and these people were not only protected but also encouraged.

Today both the trouble-makers and the people of the previous regime are working hand-in-glove to create disturbances in the state while the common Kashmiri is still caught in the web of poverty, hunger, sickness and death. Farooq Abdullah is constantly running away from problems while Rajiv Gandhi is gaining notoriety trying to create a history of lies.

It is natural for a human being to desire a life of peace and happiness. To achieve this he visits temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras, dargahs and other innumerable places. When his problems mount he turns criminal. But most of the time he becomes an easy target for a swindler who shows him dreams of unheard of prosperity. The Kashmiris lead a life full of misery. A misery which the previous regime did nothing to alleviate. They also did not clear the misconceptions of these people about life on the other side of the border.

The majority of Muslims who emigrated to Pakistan from India live in Karachi. They are called Mojahirs. What status, employment opportunities, social standing do they enjoy there? None. The anit-Mojahir riots which erupt periodically in Karachi are because the original residents of Karachi have not been able to accept them. People who love other countries more than their own should go to Karachi and see the liv-member how will we be caught in their web of deceit one again? The people responsible for the destruction of the democratic institutions of our country, thanks to the support they have received from these very institutions and they are once again trying to beguile the Indian populace with their misleading talk. What these people are saying now is that the waiving of farmers’ loans will plunge the country in economic despair and think they say so because then they will have less money to take out of the country. These people are so much against the youth that they go around making fun of their right to work. Actually, they are afraid that if the right steps are taken to eradicate unemployment then the youth of the country may now allow them to operate so freely from the streets of India. For, all the luxury and fund these people have had in the past 40 years was at the cost of this should we remember the simple misdeeds of our rulers? But if we remember how will we be caught in their web of deceit once again? The people responsible for the destruction of the democratic institutions of our country today freely roam the country, thanks to the support they have received from these very institutions and they are once again trying to begulle the Indian populace with their misleading talk.

ing conditions of the Mojahirs. Then, may be they will understand that the fight for survival and enhancement of quality of life has to be fought everywhere. The Bihari Muslims face similar problems in Bangladesh. If there were not so, then would the steady and ever growing stream of Banglaeshis coming into India not reduce?

But the rulers who governed us until a few months back did not see it fit to enlighten the people about this reality. This they did not because they were part of the grand conspiracy with our neighbours- conspiracy of spreading hatred. The rulers of our neighbouring countries spread it in their country, our leaders spread it here.

Should we remember the single misdeeds of our rulers? But if we re-young man’s parents’ hard work, his sister’s virtue, his brother’s unemployment and his younger brother’s cost of milk. So they don’t want the youth to think about changing the system because if he thinks so, how will he become a part of those criminal regiments which they have got together to loot the people?

It is essential that we remain wary of the people who after having sold the country’s honour and peace for 40 years are moving about in our cities and villages. A new breed has joined the destructive elements and like hyenas are baying their lungs out.

Should we forget the people who in a bid to turn our great country into Mera Bharat mahaan led it into a swamp of deceit, poverty and unemployment? Or forgive them either?

They gathered last week under the banner of Navnirman Manch convened by all-India secretary Sudharshan Loyalka in Bombay,s K.C. College. The team of young MPs was led by Santosh Bhartiya, MP from Farookhabad and a comrade-in-arms of Prime Minister VP Singh, to inform the people of Bombay that they will blaze their own trail irrespective of bickerings and wranglings inside the rulling party.

The packed hall listened to them intently and dozens of members of the audience vied with one another to ask some of the most embarrassing questions on the issues agitating people’s mind, including corruption and spiraling price.

The dialogue between the young MPs and the audience continued for almost two hours. It was an unenviable demonstration of open government and right to information. Sushil Silvano adds:

A Jan Sena, people’s army, will soon be raised to fight the war against corruption, exploitation, inequality, injustice, communalism, parochialism, wrong planning and a bad education system is being fought by a band of angry young members of Parliament led by Santosh Bhartiya, a lieutenant of prime minister V.P. Singh.

These people’s representatives have formed themselves into an anti-system group, which is being described also as a pressure group or a ginger group in the Janata Dal. They are also associated with the Nav Nirman Manch, which is not confined to just MPs and other elected representatives but has as its members politically conscious people who otherwise would not like to involve themselves in power politics.

The MPs seek to get politics delinked from big business and want to break the highly obnoxious nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, criminals and big business.

Five of the MPs, who were here on May 5 to attend the inauguration of the Bombay chapter of Nav Nirman Manch, made it clear that it was in their personal capacity that they were associating themselves with the Manch, whose membership will be open to people of other political parties and line of thinking too.

While they have identified their object in very clear terms, they are still grouping in dark on how to change the prevailing system. Right now they are the point of blaming everything that is wrong in our society on the Congress and the people who were at the helm of affairs in the last 42 years.

Rotten System

“The system in which we live today is so rotten that plenty and penury co-exist, where a handful of people have pocketed all the resources leaving the rest to live like beasts, rather live with the lowliest of animals” thunders Bhartiya, who was closely associated with Jaya Prakash Narayan,s movement.

But how does one change this system? “By making all members of Parliament accountable to the people, by exposing the corrupt, by educating the people about their rights, by making the common man a partner in power, by changing the education system of planning,” explains Bhartiya.

“Till now planning has been centralised with the result that the fruits of planning have not reached the village and the people for whom all development is meant. We will force the government with all the strength at our command to reverse the process of planning, making the taluka and the village the starting point of all planning.

“We will also involve the common people in the process of planning so that they can then act as watchdogs,” declared Babanrao Dhakne, Prakash Koko Brahmbhatt, Ravi Narain Pani and Dr. Mahendra Pal Singh, all Janata Dal MPs. Bhartiya and his colleagues demand that multinationals should not be allowed to produce items like needless, soaps and shoes. “In case they have to produce these items then let them export all these and foreign exchange for the country.”

Efforts by the young MPs to restrict the multinationals will soon be yielding results as 836 items have been identified by the government of India. These items will be taken away from the multinationals and placed in the small-scale sector to generate more employment and bring down the cost of production and prices.

Mandate given

Addressing the public meeting at Jai Hind College, Bhartiya said the people had given their mandate to change the system. “The day we feel we are failing or are steering away from the promised aim, we shall leave power… things have to change and change fast.”

“We have inherited a system in which we have told that all our political responsibilities ended with the casting of the vote. It is this rotten atmosphere, climate and thinking that we have to change. This cannot be achieved if the people sit back and do not insist on accountability on the part of those they have elected and sent to Parliament.

“The people should evaluate the performance of those whom they have elected and sent to Parliament. It should consistently query the elected representatives and seek replies to all their questions.

Bhartiya said the National Fronts government possessed the will to change the system people. It was willing to provide an open government in which the common man would be an active partner. “The government also wants to shatter the system of dalali that has been perpetuated in the last 40 years.”

Hasan Kamaal, convener of the Manch for Maharashtra, described it as “a bridge between the people and the elected representatives, a medium of dialogue.”

After speeches by the five MPs the floor was thrown open to the audience to ask questions. Most of the queries that were received by the MPs showed the impatience of the people over the government’s steps against rising price, hoarding, blackmarketing, black money, the action taken if any by the national government against smugglers, violators of foreign exchange regulations, corrupt public servants, bank chairmen helping in diverting crores of public money into the coffers of big business houses.

Tough time

Also they were asked what action was being contemplated against those propagating religious fundamentalism and parochialism and indulging in crimes in the name of religion.

The MPs had a tough time giving answer to these questions. CURRENT editor Ayub Syed, who was invited to speak, took the young MPs to task for “crying” all the while. “Do it or leave and go. The people are in no mood to listen to your complains against corruption, the system, the obstacles that are coming in your way. They have voted you into power and the people expect results.”

Syed said nothing would be achieved by blaming the system. “Who has stopped you from arresting erring businessmen or corrupt public servants? Have you made any efforts to pressurize your government to take action against well-known hoarders and blackmarketeers?

Change face

“Think of the fundamental issues which, if tackled properly, can change the face of India. Why can’t your government stop Bata from making shoes? If that is done six crore people will get employment. Why can’t the government stop multinations like Wimco and Hindustan Lever from making soaps? If tat is done, it will generate employment for lakhs of people.

Why cannot 80 percent of the Union budget be diverted to the villages? What makes the people leave their villages and come to the cities to live on pavements? If the conditions are improved in the villages who would like to come to cities like Bombay to live a sub-human existence” Syed said and advised the Manch to come up “with solutions to such problems.”

Kamlesh Tiwari, general secretaryof the Janata Yuva Dal and Anil Gote, a well-known farmer leader also addressed the public meeting.

Pritish Nandy, editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India and The Independent was among those who attended the public meeting.

फर्रुखाबाद,4 फरवरी (नि.प्र)। जनता दल के नेता पूर्व सांसद संतोष भारतीय के आज फर्रुखाबाद दौरे के बाद राजनैतिक गतिविधियां तेज हो गयी है। श्री भारतीय ने यहां देर रात्रि संकेत दिया कि वे नागरिकों की समस्याओं के लिए संघर्ष करेंगे और फर्रुखाबाद संसदीय क्षेत्र से लोकसभा का चुनाव लड़ेंगे। श्री भारतीय आज दोपहर अपने निवास ग्रांम गणेशपुर पहुंचे। जहां उन्होंने संसदीय क्षेत्र के लोगों से विचार-विमर्श किया। सैकड़ों नागरिकों ने उनसे भेंट कर क्षेत्रीय समस्याओं से अवगत कराया।

श्री भारतीय ने जागरण को बताया कि बसपा से तालमेल की बातचीत प्रगति पर है और इस बारे में फैसला इस माह के अंत तक हो जायेगा। हवाला कांड की चर्चा करते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि सुरेन्द्र जैन की डायरी में नाम आने से जनता दल के दो शीर्श नेताओं ने अपने पद से त्याग पत्र देकर जो पहल की है उसका कांग्रेस व अन्य दलों के नेताओं को अनुसरण करना चाहिए। उन्होंने मांग की है कि हवाला कांड में लिप्त आठ मंत्रियों को तत्काल इस्तीफा देना चाहिए। जिससे देश सरकारों पर जनता का विश्वास कायम रह सकें।

श्री भारतीय ने कहा कि 22 फरवरी से पूर्व देश की राजनीति में बड़ा भूचाल आने वाला है उन्होंने संभावना व्यक्त की कि परिवर्तन के इस दौर में तमाम बड़े नेताओं का सितारा डूब जायेगा। उन्होंने कहा कि सर्वोच्च न्यायालय के अनुसार आय-व्यय का ब्यौरा न दिये जाने पर कई राजनीतिक दलों की मान्यता समाप्त हो सकती और प्रधानमंत्री राव भी इसके घेरे में आ सकते हैं।

फर्रुखाबाद 4 मार्च।जिला जनता दल के विनयाषा गेस्ट हाउस में हुए कार्यकत्ता सम्मेलन में पूर्व सांसद की उपस्थिति में युवा जद के दो नेताओं के बीच जमकर बवाल हुआ। दोनों ओर जबावी आरोपों-प्रत्यारोपों के चलते कार्यकत्ता सम्मेलन में आधा घंटा अव्यवस्था का आलम रहा। बाद में वरिष्ठ नेताओं के समझाने बुझाने पर मामला शांत हुआ। एक जद पदाधिकारी ने तो जद अध्यक्ष को भ्रष्ट तथा पार्टी को बर्बाद करनेवाला बताया।

विवाद की शुरूआत उस समय हुई जब सुधीर गुप्ता नामक कार्यकत्ता ने खड़े होकर सवाल किया कि युवा जद का जिलाध्यक्ष कौन है। इस पर अजयपाल उर्फ रामू ने कह दिया कि युवा जनता दल के अध्यक्ष शरद श्रीवास्तव है जो कि प्रदेश छात्र जनता दल के अध्यक्ष हैं, को यह अपमान बर्दाश्त नहीं हुआ कि प्रदेश अध्यक्ष होते उन्हें कोई जिलाध्यक्ष बताये। आधे घंटे तक हंगामें की स्थिति बनी रही। दोनों ओर एक दूसरे पर आरोप-प्रत्यारोप लगाये गये। एक-दूसरे को देख लेने की भी धमकियां दी गई। बाद में युवा जद के जिलाध्यक्ष अरुण कटियार ने खड़े होकर कहा कि मैं जिलाध्यक्ष हूं और जबतक चाहूंगा रहूंगा कोई मेरा कुछ नहीं बिगाड़ सकता। बताया जाता है कि युवा जद के जिलाध्यक्ष के पद पर कार्यरत अरुण कटियार ने स्वयं ही इस्तीफे की पेशकश की थीं। जिला जद अध्यक्ष कैलाश कटियार ने कार्यकारिणी की सहमति से जिलाध्यक्ष पद पर रवि राठौर का नाम प्रस्तावित कर दिया है। रवि राठौर शरद श्रीवास्तव समर्थक माने जाते हैं। इसी बीच अशोक सोमवंशी द्वारा जिला जद अध्यक्ष कैलाश चन्द्र कटियार को भ्रष्ट तथा जद को बर्बाद करने वाला कह देने से पुन: हंगामा हो गया। जवाहिर सिंह गंगवार सहित अनेक लोग आरोप लगाने लगे। सारा हंगामा संतोष भारतीय की उपस्थिति में हुआ।

बाद में कार्यकत्ताओं को सम्बोधित करते हुए श्री संतोष भारतीय ने सुझाव दिया कि जद कार्यकत्ता जनता की समस्याओं के लिए संघर्श करें। उन्होंने कहा कि यदि जनप्रतिनिध समस्याओं को सुलझाने में असफल रहे तो अधिकारियों को ले जाकर समस्याओं से रूवरू करायें। पेयजल की समस्या के लिए उन्होंने कहा कि शटर तथा जिला कमेटी प्रस्ताव बनाकर अधिकारियों को दें तथा शीघ्र समस्या हल न होने पर आंदोलन करें। सपा शासन तथा पूर्व में भाजपा शासन में विकास कार्य को पूर्णतया ठप बताते हुए संतोष भारतीय ने कहा कि जद के शासनकाल में करवाये गये विकास कार्यों, सड़कों, प्राइमरी स्कूलों आदि को मुलायम सिंह अपना बता रहें हैं। फर्क सिर्फ इतना है कि पहले वह सिफ जद के मुख्यमंत्री थे किन्तु अब सपा के हैं। बाद में पत्रकारों से वार्ता में उन्होंने कहा कि प्रदेश में जद के चार विधायक, निर्णायक हैं। किन्तु सपा दोस्त की सरकार है इसलिए उसे गिराया नहीं जाएगा, जद सपा का समर्थन करेगा।

बैठक में फैसला लिया गया कि आगे से प्रत्येक विधानसभा क्षेत्र में जिला कार्यकत्ता सम्मेलन होगा। अगला सम्मेलन होली के बाद छिबरामउ में प्रताप सिंह यादव के यहां होगा। सम्मेलन में पूर्व जद विधायक इजहार आलम को छोड़कर सभी प्रमुख जद नेता उपस्थित थे। जिला अध्यक्ष श्री कैलाश चन्द्र कटियार, प्रदेश छात्र जद अध्यक्ष शरद श्रीवास्तव, युवा जद के जिलाध्यक्ष अरुण कटियार, जवाहर सिंह गंगवार एडवोकेट, अशोक सोमवंशी, तौफीक खां, प्रताप सिंह यादव, जद प्रवक्ता अखिलेश सक्सेना समेत एक सैकड़ा कार्यकत्ता उपस्थित थे। बाद में संतोष भारतीय इजहार आलम के यहां कायमगंज ईद मिलन समारोह में भाग लेने के लिए चले गये।

संसद में पहुंचने के लिए इस बार सारे राजनीतिक दल अपनी सारी शक्ति लगाकर करोड़ों रुपए पानी की तरह बहाएंगे। धन-बल, जनबल एवं बाहुबल पर लड़े जाने वाले चुनावों में इस बार अगर जिला प्रशासन ने सूझबूझ का परिचय नहीं दिया तो खून खराबा भी हो सकता है। सभी राजनैतिक दलों के प्रत्याशियों ने जनता के दरबार में हाजिरी देना प्रारंभ कर दिया है। जनता अभी प्रत्याशियों को घास नहीं डाल रही है। प्रत्याशियों ने अपने कार्यकत्ताओं को जनता की नब्ज टटोलने के लिए ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में भेजना प्रारंभ कर दिया है। ताकि जनता की भावनाओं को भड़का कर उसी तरह के लुभावने वायदे किए जाएं।

लोकसभा चुनावों चाहे कोई मुद्दा हावी हो न हो लेकिन जातिवादी मुद्दा अभी से हावी होता दिखाई दे रहा है। क्योंकि यह जातिगत राजनीति का ही परिणाम है भाजपा ने मथुरा के वर्तमान सांसद स्वामी साक्षी जी महाराज को फर्रुखाबाद लोकसभा सीट से उतारा है। ताकि लोधी समाज की मांग को ध्यान में रखते हुए लोधी समाज को खुश रखा जा सके और दोनों फर्रुखाबाद और कन्नौज लोकसभा सीट के भाजपा प्रत्याशियों को लोधी समाज का एक मुस्त समर्थन मिल सके। जातिवादी राजनीति का प्रबल विरोध करने वाली भाजपा ने इस ग्यारवीं लोकसभा चुनाव में जातिवाद को पूरी तरह भुनाया है। क्योंकि जिले में ठाकुर मतदाताओं को लुभाने के लिए भाजपा ने कन्नौज से ठाकुर प्रत्याशी व पूर्व विधायक चद्र भूषण सिंह उर्फ मुन्नू बाबू को उतारा है। ताकि जिले का ठाकुर मतदाता दोनों लोकसभा सीटों पर भाजपा प्रत्याशियों को अपना खुला समर्थन दे सकें। इसी तरह लोधी समाज का एक मुश्त समर्थन प्राप्त करने के लिए स्वामी साक्षी जी महाराज को फर्रुखाबाद लोकसभा सीट से चुनाव मैदान में उतारा है। भाजपा के राष्ट्रीय नेताओं ने यह गठित बनाया है कि लोकसभा कन्नौज से लोधी समाज चन्द्र भूषण सिंह को एक मुश्त समर्थन देगा। अगर लोधी समाज ठाकुर प्रत्याशी श्री सिंह को अपना समर्थन नहीं देता है तो फर्रुखाबाद सीट से लोधी समाज के प्रत्याशी साक्षी जी महाराज को क्षत्रिाय मतदाताओं का समर्थन नहीं मिलेगा। इसलिए ठाकुरों और लोधियों की मजबूरी है कि भाजपा सूत्रों के अनुसार ब्राहमण, वैश्य,क्षत्रिय लोधी, शाक्य सहित अन्य पिछड़ी जातियों का भाजपा को पूर्ण समर्थन मिलेगा।

जिले का प्रत्येक राजनीतिक दल जातिगत आाधार पर अपने प्रत्याशियों को चुनाव लड़वाना चाहता है क्योंकि जिले की फर्रुखाबाद लोकसभा सीट के अन्तर्गत फर्रुखाबाद से 20 हजार लोधी, 34 हजार क्षत्रिय, 30 हजार शाक्य, 10 हजार अहीर, 10 हजार कुर्मी, 24 हजार मुसलमान, 5 हजार पाल, 24 हजार ब्राहमण, 45 हजार अनुसूचित जाति, 10 हजार वैश्य, 20 हजार कायस्थ व अन्य मिलाकर फर्रुखाबाद विधानसभा में कुल मतदाताओं की संख्या दो लाख पैंतीस हजार के लगभग है। इसी प्रकार मतदाताओं की जातिगत स्थिति के अनुसार कमालगंज में 60 हजार लोधी, 25 हजार क्षत्रिय, 10 हजार शाक्य, 10 हजार अहीर, 10 हजार कुर्मी, 50 हजार मुसलमान, 10 हजार पाल, 5 हजार ब्राहमण, अनुसूचित जाति 45 हजार, वैश्य समाज के पांच हजार, कायस्थ एवं अन्य जातियों के मतदाताओं की संख्या मात्र पांच हजार है। इस प्रकार कुल मिलाकर कमालगंज विधानसभा में विभिन्न जातियों की संख्या कुल मिलाकर लगभग दो लाख है।

कायमगंज विधानसभा सीट से विभिन्न जातियों की स्थिति में पच्चीस हजार लोधी, दस हजार क्षत्रिय, 25 हजार शाक्य, बीस हजार अहीर, पचास हजार कुर्मी, पचास हजार मुसलमान, पांच हजार पाल, दस हजार ब्राहमण, 40 हजार अनुसूचित जाति, पांच हजार वैश्य, पांच हजार कायस्थ व अन्य लोग शामिल हैं।इस प्रकार विभिन्न जातियों को मिलाकर इस विधानसभा क्षेत्रा में मतदाताओं की संख्या लगभग दो लाख पचपन हजार है। इसी प्रकार मौहम्मदाबाद विधानसभा क्षेत्र में लोधी मतदाता 20 हजार, क्षत्रिय मतदाता पचपन हजार, शाक्य मतदाता 10 हजार, अहीर साठ हजार, कुर्मी दस हजार, मुसलमान दस हजार, पाल समाज के पन्द्रह हजार, ब्राहमण समाज के मतदाता पांच हजार,पांच हजार वैश्य, कायस्थ व अन्य जातियों के मतदाताओं की संख्या पांच हजार है। इस विधानसभा क्षेत्रा में कुल मिलाकर मतदाताओं की संख्या दो लाख पैंतालीस हजार है।

वैसे तो भोगांव जिला मैनपुरी के अन्तर्गत आता है तथा विधानसभा क्षेत्र भी मैनपुरी में आता है। लेकिन यह क्षेत्र फर्रूखाबाद लोकसभा सीट का सबसे महत्वपूर्ण क्षेत्र है। जातिगत आधार पर इस क्षेत्रा में लोधी मतदाता साठ हजार, क्षत्रिाय 40 हजार, शाक्य 40 हजार, अहीर पन्द्रह हजार, कुर्मी दो सौ, मुसलमान 20 हजार, पाल समाज पांच हजार, वैश्य पांच हजार, कायस्थ व अन्य जातियों को मिलाकर कुल मतदाताओं की संख्या लगभग दो लाख पैंतालीस हजार है।

लोकसभा सीट फर्रुखाबाद में जातिगत मतदाताओं की संख्या के बारे में किए गए सर्वेक्षण से पता चलता है कि इस लोकसभा सीट के अन्तर्गत सबसे ज्यादा मतदाता दो लाख तीस हजार अनुसूचित जाति के हैं। इसी प्रकार लोधी समाज के मतदाताओं की संख्या एक लाख पिचानवे हजार है, जो मतदाताओं की संख्या में नम्बर दो पर आती है। क्षत्रिाय मतदाताओं की संख्या एक लाख पैसठ हजार है, जो नम्बर तीन पर है। चौथे नम्बर पर मुसलमान मतदाताओं की संख्या है एक लाख पचपन हजार है। यादव और कुर्मी समाज के मतदाताओं की संख्या बराबर होने के कारण इन दोनों मतदाताओं की स्थिति नम्बर पांच पर आती है। क्योंकि शाक्य मतदाताओं की संख्या एक लाख पांच हजार है और इतनी ही यादव समुदाय के मतदाताओं की संख्या है। कुर्मी समाज के मतदाताओं की संख्या 80 हजार होने से ये नम्बर छह पर आती है।

राजनीति में शुरू से अग्रणी भूमिका अदा करने वाले ब्राह्मण समाज के मतदाताओं की संख्या पच्चहत्तर हजार है। जो जनसंख्या के आधार पर नम्बर सात पर आती है। पाल समाज के मतदाताओं की संख्या लगभग पैंतीस हजार है जो नम्बर नौ पर आती है। कायस्थों के साथ अन्य जातियों की संख्या मिलाने पर इस वर्ग के मतदाताओं की संख्या कुल मिलाकर चालीस हजार होती है जोकि नम्बर दस पर आती है। इस प्रकार फर्रुखाबाद लोकसभा सीट से सांसद को जिताकर संसद में भेजने वाले साढ़े बारह लाख मतदाताओं का भिन्न-भिन्न राजनैतिक दलों की तरफ रुझान होने के कारण अभी स्पष्‍ट नहीं हो पाया है कि मतदाता किसे विजय दिलवाएंगे।

लोकसभा चुनाव में जद के पूर्व सांसद एवं बसपा से वर्तमान प्रत्याशी संतोष भारतीय के चुनाव मैदान में उतरने से राजनीति के सभी समीकरण गड़बड़ा गये हैं। वहीं राजनैतिक दलों के नेताओं की नींद उड़ गयी है। संतोष भारतीय के चुनाव मैदान में उतरने से लोकसभा क्षेत्र के विघटित क्षत्रियों ने एकत्र होकर श्री भारतीय को विजय श्री दिलाने का निर्णय ने लिया है। वैसे अभी तक कोई भी प्रत्याशी यह दावा नहीं कर सकता कि जीत उसी की होगी।

सपा एवं जद के गठबंधन के विपरीत संतोष भारतीय ने बसपा से टिकट लेकर यह साबित कर दिया है कि संतोष भारतीय को लोकसभा सीट से असीमित स्नेह है क्योंकि श्री भारतीय ने अपना राजनैतिक जीवन लोकसभा सीट फर्रुखाबाद से सन् 89 में विश्वनाथ प्रताप सिंह के नेतृतव में प्रारंभ किया था। पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री श्री सिंह का बरदहस्त प्राप्त करने के बाद श्री भारतीय ने सन् 89 में अपने सभी प्रत्याशियों को परास्त करके विजय प्राप्त की थी। ज्ञातव्य है कि यह चुनाव बोफोर्स मुद्दें को लेकर राजीव गांधी बनाम विश्वनाथ प्रताप सिंह के नाम पर लड़ा जाने वाला चुनाव श्री भारतीय ने जीतकर गत चुनावों में सारे समीकरण धवस्त करके विजय प्राप्त की थी। श्री भारतीय ने जद के नेतृत्व में चुनाव लड़कर सभी प्रत्याशियों को यह अहसास करा दिया था कि जिले की जनता किसी भी प्रत्याशी के राजनैतिक स्तर को नहीं बल्कि उसके व्यक्तिगत व्यवहार को देखती है। इसी व्यवहार को देखते हुए संतोष भारतीय को जिताया था। वही संतोष भारतीय तीसरी बार चुनाव लड़कर वह भी बसपा जैसी पार्टी से उम्मीदवार के रूप में जनता के सामने आकर इस बात का अहसास करा दिया है कि उन्हें लोकसभा सीट फर्रुखाबाद से चुनाव लड़ना है।

श्री भारतीय के समर्थकों का कहना है कि पूर्व सांसद संतोष भारतीय ने वाटलिंग प्लान्ट, एस.टी.डी. सुविधा, गैस प्लान्ट, आलू चिप्स औद्योगिक कार्यक्रमों को फर्रुखाबाद में लाने का श्रेय संतोष भारतीय को है। फिर भी लोकसभा सीट से चुनाव जीतना प्रत्येक प्रत्याशी के लिए टेढ़ी खीर होगी। कोई भी प्रत्याशी इस बात का दावा नहीं कर सकता कि विजय किसकी होगी।

भारतीय किसान यूनियन के प्रदेश संयोजक सवाई सिंह ने कहा कि संतोष भारतीय निश्चित ही राजनीति में नये आयाम स्थापित करेंगे।

छात्र युवा संघर्ष वाहिनी की प्रदेश समिति के पूर्व सदस्य एडवोकेट संतोष कुमार ने चौथी दुनिया के सम्पादक की जीत को धनशक्ति के आगे जनशक्ति की जीत बताया है।

मतदाता मंच के जिला संयोजक एडवोकेट वीरेन्द्र विद्रोही ने कहा कि संतोष भारतीय की जीत ने इस बात को सिध्द कर दिया है कि आज भी देश की मतदाता प्रजातांत्रिक मूल्यों को समझता है तथा पैसे के दम पर अपने मत का दुरुपयोग नहीं करता।

छात्र युवा संघर्ष वाहिनी के पूर्व जिला संयोजक एवं जिला पत्रकार संघ के महासचिव राजेश रवि ने कहा है कि देश में बदलती परिस्थितियों के कारण यह जरूरी हो गया था कि पत्रकार भी संसद में पहुंच कर व्यवस्था परिवर्तन की लड़ाई लड़े।

उल्लेखनीय है कि श्री भारतीय उत्तर प्रदेश के फर्रूखाबाद सीट पर विजयी हुये।