Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin unveiled a life-size statue of V.P. Singh at the Presidency College campus in Chennai Monday, the 15th death anniversary of the former Prime Minister, with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav invited as the guest of honour.
Singh’s wife Sita Kumari and sons Abhai Singh and Ajeya Pratap Singh were also present at the event.
The DMK’s celebration of V.P. Singh — whose government implemented the Mandal Commission recommendation of 27 percent reservation for OBCs in government jobs and educational institutions — is seen by political analysts as an attempt to strengthen the party’s position among the Opposition camp ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The move comes amid calls from the Opposition for a caste census around the country.
After unveiling the statue, Stalin said celebrating the life of V.P. Singh was the responsibility of the DMK government as the leader was the “guardian of social justice” who ensured the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations.
He also hailed the late leader for the establishment of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal to adjudicate inter-state disputes over watersharing.
“V.P. Singh might have died but the lamp he lit for social justice will always shine and TN will never forget him,” said Stalin.
Akhilesh thanked the TN CM for the initiative, and said it would give a clear message across the country ahead of 2024. He also called for a united fight against government institutions being privatised, and for a caste census.
Stalin, meanwhile, urged unity among political parties to ensure social justice, and stressed the need for proper implementation of the quota policy for the OBCs and SC/STs.
Noting that there was still disparity in the representation of OBCs in central government jobs, educational institutions and the judiciary, Stalin demanded that an all-party committee of MPs be constituted to oversee the implementation of the reservation policy at the national level.
Talking about Monday’s event, political analyst Priyan Srinivasan said the “DMK has always had a lot of respect for V.P. Singh, and has always seen him as a person who lost his prime ministership for the social justice cause”.
“So, with the upcoming polls, and the DMK’s social justice theme, V.P. Singh is the icon that can help them woo the OBCs further,” he added.
Priyan said the DMK had celebrated V.P. Singh after the implementation of the Mandal Commission, adding that he was seen as a “hero”. “Karunanidhi, who was then CM, had taken Singh on a road rally across the state for the implementation of the commission recommendations… seen as a move towards social justice,” said Priyan.
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V.P. Singh’s TN connect
If Uttar Pradesh was V.P. Singh’s “mother state”, Stalin said “Tamil Nadu was his father state”.
The former PM, he added, was inclined towards the teachings of Periyar, who started the Dravidian movement that remains central to Tamil Nadu’s politics, and was close to the late DMK patriarch and former chief minister M. Karunanidhi, whom “he called his brother”.
Talking about the friendship between Singh and Karunanidhi, Stalin recounted an incident where the former visited Chennai for a beach rally during his 11-month tenure as PM.
Ahead of the rally, Singh wanted to visit the then CM Karunanidhi’s residence, Stalin said. Even though the PM’s secretary had noted that protocol advised against it, Stalin added, Singh insisted and went to Karunanidhi’s Gopalapuram residence.
During the beach rally, Stalin said, Karunanidhi put forth the demand of naming the two airports in Chennai after C.N. Annadurai and K. Kamaraj.
“Back in those days, there were no cellphones. The PM had a private room that had a lightning call facility… The PM came down from the platform, made a lightning call to Delhi and talked to the officials concerned and returned to the platform and announced that Kalaignar’s demand had been fulfilled,” Stalin added.
Regarding the Cauvery water dispute, Stalin said Singh hosted a meeting at his own residence where nine CMs, seven Union ministers and five national political parties were invited. “PM Singh then asked CM Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) to speak on the topic and added, ‘Whatever Kalaignar is going to speak, that is my stand too’,” Stalin said.
Similarly, when Karunanidhi asked Singh why the conference of the National Integration Council (NIC) — a body set up in 1961 to find “ways and means to combat the evils of communalism, casteism, regionalism, linguism and narrow-mindedness” — was being hosted only in Delhi, the latter “asked if Kalaignar would host the next NIC”. “The following year, for the first time, Tamil Nadu hosted the NIC meeting,” he added.
Stalin said he had met Singh twice. The first time, in 1988, he didn’t get a chance to speak with Singh, and just led a youth wing march for an inaugural event of the National Front in Chennai as Singh and Karunanidhi, among others, sat on the dais.
The second time, he was an MLA who was part of a committee that was to meet the PM. When Stalin was introduced to Singh as part of the committee, “Singh said, ‘I know him, he is the one who led the rally’”.
It was a very proud moment, Stalin said.
Akhilesh Yadav the guest of honour
Stalin greeted former CM Akhilesh Yadav as “UP’s Singham”, referring to him as the state’s future CM as well.
Priyan said Akhilesh was an “interesting choice for a guest”, referring to the tensions of late between the Congress and the SP, which are both part of the INDIA alliance.
“Akhilesh is an OBC leader from UP, the state of V.P. Singh, but more than that, the DMK, which is seeing itself as a bridge or binding force in the INDIA alliance, has been trying to bring everyone together and this invitation, too, can be seen as part of the initiative to put forth a united front in the coming elections… to maybe pacify Akhilesh,” said Priyan.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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