A long march

With Arjun Singh’s passing,the Congress has lost one of its last old-style chieftains,and a link with its own past. He was the original wily thakur,deploying high rhetoric on secularism and social justice for pragmatic political ends,creating a fortress of support for the party and a constituency for himself. In this constant reinvention,he exhibited some of the finest as well as the most cynical of his party’s instincts.

Between 1980 and 1985,as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh,Arjun Singh came into his own. From being regarded as Sanjay Gandhi’s lightweight nominee,he came to be the undisputed fulcrum of MP politics,consolidating the Congress grip on the heart of India. As chief minister,he pushed through several progressive legislations,including greater rights to tribals on forest produce,slum-dwellers rights to land,and other measures — though he was also embroiled in controversy,like the Churhat lottery scam that undid his image in the state,or his less-than-glorious role in the Bhopal gas tragedy and its aftermath. As the governor of Punjab,during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure,he catalysed the Longowal peace agreement. Much later,from 2004 to 2009,his record in the Union government was decidedly mixed. He wore his concern for minorities on his sleeve,and as the HRD minister,he determinedly pushed through reservations for OBCs in higher education,despite strong opposition — forcing a constitutional amendment,making it politically impossible for his party to back down. But again,it was in his term that the deemed universities controversy exploded.

More than his administrative spurs,Arjun Singh will be remembered as the consummate Congresswallah. He embodied certain traits of the party’s internal culture — loudly proclaiming loyalty to the Gandhi family,not just to politically position himself but also to undermine other Congress leaders he saw as less than deserving of the prime minister’s office. Narasimha Rao never trusted his biggest competitor. And Singh resigned from Rao’s cabinet in 1994,but two years late to gain any goodwill for his protest against the Babri Masjid demolition. Later,he led the breakaway Congress (Tiwari) fraction,which failed to take off in any meaningful way,and came right back to the party where he fully belonged once Sonia Gandhi took charge. The Congress,for its part,has found it difficult to distance him,just as

it has found it difficult to own him. He died on the very day he was removed from the Congress Working Committee.