PUNA: The Janta Dal President Mr. V, P. Singh, today warned that the “biggest danger” was posed by those who had concentrated “money and political power” in their hands.

Concentrated money power was dictating terms to those wielding political power, he said while addressing a gathering of “intellectuals from various fields” here.

Prime Ministers were controlled by big businessmen, who enjoyed money power, he alleged. And called for a genuine economic and political decentralization of power facilitating the people’s participation.

People should control

“Let it be a Communist country or a capitalist nation. It is the people who should have control over the bureaucracy”, Mr. V.P. Singh said.

Mr. V.P. Singh emphasized the need for strengthening the small scale sector as it “offered more employment” than the corporate sector, and added that it was necessary to adopt technology which could help in the decentralization of the production process.

Mr. V.P. Singh said the Janta Dal did not see any clash of interests between agriculture and industry which. in fact, were “complementary” to each other.

However, the party would lay stress on agro based industrial units, he said.

Gandhi symbol of Defeat

Referring to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s proposal to give more. Powers to the District Magistrates ‘Mr. V.P. Singh said such measures would not prove beneficial so long as “real people’s participation” remained absent.

Launching a blistering attach on the Prime Minister the Janta Dal President said Mr. Gandhi had become a “symbol of defeat and political instability”.

Mr. Gandhi’s failure to offer political stability in the States constituted a threat to the country, he remarked. While Congress(I) Chief Ministers were being changed constantly, the Opposition ruled States had given more stability to the people he claimed, making a mention of Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana and Karnataka.

Congress’s new regional Party

The Congress (1) debacle in Tamil Nadu had proved that it had now been reduced to the status of a regional party, Mr. V.P. Singh said, adding that after losing by-elections in UP, the party was fighting for its survival in Tamil Nadu. Mr. V.P. Singh said the National Front was emerging as a viable alternative to the “corrupt” Congress (I) rule.

Earlier, the Janata Dal vice president, Mr. Ramakrishna Hegde said the formation of the Janata Dal was culmination of a prolonged effort towards Opposition unity and to offer a viable alternative to the Congress (I).

”We do not want a substitute for the Congress (I),”he said, adding that the National Front comprising three regional and two national parties would endeavor to bring about fundamental policy changes to meet the basic needs of the people within a “timeframe”.

Article extracted from this publication >>  February 17, 1989