NEW DELHI: After lying low for four days Arjun Singh is on the offensive again. Singh who has emerged as the main contender for prime minister-ship in the wake of the Ayodhya tragedy is pushing for an immediate dismissal of the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

The Human Resource Development Minister is understood to have taken an aggressive stance at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on Dec.13. Singh demanded the dismissal of the BJP governments and a strict enforcement of the decision of the government to ban communal organizations.

The demand for the dismissal of the BJP governments also reportedly had the backing of Defence Minister Sharad Pawar and Petroleum Minister B.Shankaranand. The remaining three members of the CCPA are the Prime Minister the Home Minister and the Finance Minister.

Referring to the lack of action to enforce the ban on communal organizations Singh’s reported to have told the meeting on Sunday that the Government by its inaction was making a mockery of every move it made. Either it should not take these steps or if it did so it must implement them with vigor Singh said. He called for a plan of action to meet the challenge of the BJP which include the sack of the state governments ruled by the party.

The meeting which ended inconclusively was called to take stock of the follow-up measures announced in the wake of Black Sunday’s developments. The CCPA was to meet again later on Sunday night but failed to do so.

There was also a proposal that the full Cabinet should meet to consider the dismissal question

Arjun Singh’s stand for pushing the Prime Minister to take stronger action is bound to result in a collision between the Center and the BJP-RSS. It is also expected to further polarize the Congress party.

In the aftermath of the Ayodhya tragedy there was an outcry in the party for strong action to assuage the sentiments of the minority community. Now there is a growing feeling in the Congress that the steps announced by the Prime Minister being described as “over reaction” in response to earlier “inaction” may prove to be counterproductive and cost the party dearly in terms of an erosion in its base both amongst the Muslims and the Hindus.

Pushing for the acceptance of harder measures against the BJP Arjun Singh had walked out of the CCPA just recently. He was unhappy with the Government’s dithering on the dismissal issue particularly as the Governor of Madhya Pradesh Kunwar Mahmood Ali is understood to have sent are port in which he said that the law and order was bad and that the Government machinery in the state-had broken down. The Governor was a Janata Dal appointee and was considered close to Chandra Shekhar.

Party sources say that Arjun Singh and Pawar are moving in tandem. Singh is trying to take Pawar along with him. Though the Defence Minister has been lying low in recent days the HRD Minister has been wooing him The Defence Minister also walked out of the CCPA after Singh Friday.

When the question of ban of Shiv Sena came up for discussion at the CCPA recently Singh is reported to have taken the position that he would go along with whatever Pawar had to say on the subject.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 30, 1992