NEW DELHI: Janata Dal leader Vishwanath Pratap Singh Thursday said a realignment of political forces was taking place in the country and his party also faced its impact.
Participating in a meet-the-press program at the Press Club of India here he said basically there is a realignment of forces taking place. The social base of the Congress (I) is changing and political parties are acquiring new social bases. This will lead to a new equilibrium in politics.
He declined to discuss internal matters of the Janata Dal in response to a question on prominent JD leader Ajit Singh’s differences with him and whether the party would split.
However Singh said there was an impact of social forces on his party as it was mainly composed of people belonging to the working class backward classes scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
A combination of these sections will form the bulwark against the forces of communalism he added.
Singh said that he was for collective functioning inside the party.
Asked about the reported demand within the Congress (I) for the entry of former premier Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia Gandhi into politics he said he would not discuss an internal matter of the Congress (I).
To a question on how long the minority Congress (I) government would survive at the center he said it depended on its survival instincts.
Asked whether he agreed with federal civil aviation minister Madhavrao Scindia’s description of the Right Wing Bharatiya Janata Party as traitors he said though his party had strong differences with the BJP he did not think it was proper for anyone to call another a traitor.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 16, 1991
