Arjun Singh in a spot

Arjun Singh, Minister for Human Resource Development and well known “Hindu-baiter” finds himself in a tight spot following the demands by Indian Express to replace him with the young Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. The daily, taking a cue from the young Gandhi’s speech in Parliament that  the one thing he has learnt is that “people who are closer to a problem understand it best”. “Well, he happens to be much closer – in age and mindset – to India’s student community than the present incumbent,” says the editorial dated March 11. The daily took a pot-shot at the incumbent HRD minister by pointing out that “the uniquely Indian belief that one must be in one’s dotage to be an effective minister is plain codswallop”.

With Express putting Arjun Singh in a corner, chances are that many Congress MPs will take up cudgels for Rahul to demolish the octogenarian MP from Madhya Pradesh. It is an open secret that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Antonio Maino (aka Sonia Gandhi) do not like the cunning Arjun Singh who has some tacit understanding with the Communist party leaders like Prakash Karat, Sitaram Beetroot, Daniel Raja and AB Bardan. Arjun Singh is busy rewriting the entire history of India as per the whims and fancies of the comrades.

Arjun Singh always wanted to be the Prime Minister of the country. But it was his fear for the Nehru-Gandhi clan that prevented him from staking the claims for the top job. Rajiv Gandhi himself never liked Arjun Singh and always kept him at an arms length. It may be worthwhile to remember that immediately after being sworn in as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, he was shunted out by Rajiv Gandhi as Governor of Punjab in the hope that the Sikh terrorists will finish him off.

Arjun Singh bounced back to Delhi with the Rajiv-Longowal accord and he was made the vice-president of the Congress. But when Rajiv Gandhi came to know of Arjun’s machinations to oust him, he was sent back to Madhya Pradesh as chief minister. Arjun Singh is considered as the Shakuni in the national politics. If he is not responding to the demand by Express, it will be seen as a sign of dissidence towards the Gandhi clan. With many acolytes of the family asking Antonio that Rahul be made a minister, the   fate of Arjun Singh seems all sealed up. It could be curtain for the octogenarian leader who is the son of late Shiv Bahadur Singh, himself a former chief minister who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on charges of corruption.