V.P. Singh becomes new prime minister of India, National Front comes to power

Devi Lai, V.P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar: clever manoeuvresFollowing three days of postponements and harrowing delays during which the entire nation was seriously beginning to doubt whether the vanquishers of the Congress(I) could form a government, the Janata Dal finally convened its parliamentary board meeting at 3:15 p.m. on December 1 in Parliament's Central Hall to elect its leader and the next prime minister of India.It was an orderly meeting, but an extraordinary happening. Seated on the dais were Madhu Dandavate, presiding over the proceedings, V.P.Singh, Devi Lal, and Chandra Shekhar, an air of expectant jubilation on his face. Dandavate called for the nominations. And the denouement occurred within the next 15 minutes.The first surprise came when V.P. Singh proposed Devi Lal's name. It was seconded by Chandra Shekhar. Since there were no other names, Dandavate declared Devi Lal elected. While a shocked silence descended on Central Hall, all hell broke loose outside.Domestic and international wire agencies flashed the message to all corners of the world that Devi Lal had been elected the next prime minister of the largest democracy in the world. Outside Parliament crowds that had followed Devi Lal screamed their support for him. Even members of the Congress(I) were ecstatic that V.P. Singh had met his Waterloo.Then four minutes later, wire services sent urgent messages urging, "kill, kill, kill, earlier story". The change came, it seemed, suddenly. Devi Lal rose to his full height, and in a masterly performance, thanked V.P. Singh for supporting him.He then said that the election result was really a fight against the corruption of the Rajiv Gandhi government and the leading warrior was V.P. Singh. "Aur phir, Haryana me, jahan mujhe log tauji, tauji karke pukarte ham, main wahan tauji hi banke rehna chahta hoon." (Besides, I prefer to look after Haryana as an elder uncle of my people.) One of the most complex and ultimately successful operations conducted by V.P. Singh's supporters was to neutralise Devi Lai and Chandra Shekhar. And as the audience listened raptly, he proposed V.P. Singh's name for the leadership. He had barely stopped speaking, when Ajit Singh loudly seconded him. There were no other nominations. Amid thunderous applause Dandavate declared Singh elected. The only sign that there was an undercurrent of turbulence was the shell-shocked look on Chandra Shekhar's face. Four hours later, President R. Venkataraman officially asked V.P. Singh to form a National Front Government and scheduled the swearing-in ceremony for the following day. The cavalry of grim-faced armed guards and police escorts accompanying V.P. Singh to Parliament and then to Rashtrapati Bhawan, associated more with Rajiv Gandhi's imperious style rather than the princeling of the erstwhile Jan Morcha, was a clear signal that the power equations in the nation had changed. On November 29, while speculation abounded about some last-minute game plan by which Rajiv Gandhi would try and hang on to power, Rajiv drove to Rashtrapati Bhawan and tendered his resignation to the President.On the surface, a smooth transition. But underneath, a political volcano that threatened to erupt for four days with nightmarish consequences for the very stability of the nation. For even as the National Front was hurtling towards forming the new government, 48 hours of dramatic developments were demonstrating how precariously the new government is balanced. The events preceding the formation of the Government - blackmail, brinkmanship, rumour, tantrums - indicated a rocky road ahead that will call for some of the most astute political jugglery and management ever witnessed in this country. The Augean stables extended right into the belly of the very Janata Dal.Rajiv Gandhi chosen leader of the Congress(I): unchallengedAccording to plans, the leader of the new government was to be picked at 3 p.m. on November 28. The day came and went. Postponed to the 29th. Postponed to the 30th. Postponed to the 1st. What was happening within these four crucial days was a replay of Indian politics at its filthiest and grimiest.Money, muscle, treachery, self-interest, blind ambition, and the machinations of two men - Devi Lal's son Om Prakash Cha'utala and Chandra Shekhar - were playing havoc with the people's electoral verdict and holding to ransom the entire political process. Groups favouring the twain - and assisted by industrialists opposed to Singh - were engaged in frenetic backstabbing to ensure his defeat. The strategy, partly born out of self-destructive avarice and partly out of a game plan worked out between Congress(I) and anti-V.P. Singh forces, was aimed at sabotaging the delicate balance worked out by V.P. Singh, whereby a centrist core, the Janata Dal, would form a government assisted from the outside by the BJP and the communists. The Congress(I) advertisement campaign of fighting roosters and scorpions may have backfired during the election campaign, but it began to hit home with an ironic fury in the developments that marked the post-election power struggle in the Janata Dal.The one person who emerged as the master strategist responsible for blunting the daggers being hurled in V.P. Singh's direction to prevent his emergence as prime minister was none other than Arun Nehru, the latter day Chanakya of Indian politics. V.P. Singh's major task lay not only in finding a modus vivendi with the revivified BJP whose support for him was in total contradiction of the anti-Hindu-fundamentalist stance he had taken during the election campaign, but also in battling the formidable beasts of opposition to him that lay buried within the belly of his own party. Here is how the intrigue unfurled: November 27, Devi Lal is lobbying for himself. He meets L.K. Advani to test BJP support for himself, but Advani bluntly tells him that the country has voted for V.P. Singh as the alternative leader, and since Devi Lal's own government has fared badly in Haryana, he should confine his role to building up the party. Devi Lal says in an interview that evening: "My personal support is for V.P. Singh." November 28, Devi Lal, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and N.T. Rama Rao visit Chandra Shekhar, the most virulent V.P. Singh foe, lying in bed with malaria at his house, to urge him to support V.P. Singh.He remains non-committal, but begins organising a subterranean effort among V.P. Singh's opponents, including Devi Lal's son, Om Prakash Chautala, to revive Devi Lal's opposition to V.P. Singh. This is because Chandra Shekhar has made his own head count and realises that he would be soundly thrashed in a contest with V.P. Singh. But he keeps this close to his chest and continues to create the impression that he is still in the running while also letting it be known that he will support Devi Lal. His tactic is that even if he cannot trounce V.P. Singh himself, he will do it through Devi Lal and emerge as the kingmaker who humbled V.P. Singh.November 29, Anti-V.P. Singh industrialists who have been campaigning amongst Janata Dal MPs - many of whom have been provided luxury suites in two posh hotels - as well as international godman Chandraswamy get active. The industrialists, Chautala, and Chandraswamy hatch a plan "to: bring Devi Lal back into the fray; and turn the BJP'S support to Devi Lal. Chandraswamy and emissary "Mama" Aggarwal confer with Chandra Shekhar, and then visit Atal Behari Vajpayee. They try and sell Vajpayee the line that the BJP should join the new government and support Devi Lal because only he, and not V.P. Singh, would openly support the militant Hindu demand for a "Hindu Rashtra".Vajpayee listens patiently, but makes no commitment.Meanwhile, Chautala organises busloads of Jats from Haryana who arrive in the capital in thousands to pressure Devi Lal. They chant: "Ban gaye, ban gaye, pradhan mantri aap ban gaye." (You have become the prime minister.) The psychological pressure begins to work and Devi Lal starts assuring his supporters that he is very much in the race. Janata Dal leaders decide to postpone the scheduled meeting of the party's political affairs committee and the parliamentary board. V.P. Singh with Advani, Vajpayee and other leadersV.P. Singh was able to garner the support of the Left and the BJP by hammering out an agreement on a minimum programme of action. Basu greeting Devi Lai and Rama RaoLate that night Arun Nehru, Arif Mohammed Khan, and V.C. Shukla launch a counter campaign. They put pressure first, on people like Chimanbhai Patel and Nathuram Mirdha - leaders known to be in the V.P. Singh camp, but now wavering under pressure from various lobbyists. The same night V.P. Singh and Arun Nehru confer separately with Jyoti Basu and L.K. Advani and gain their reassurance that their support is exclusively for a National Front government led by V.P. Singh.Still, a paralysing stalemate was in the air. According to the numbers count, of the 141 party votes, the V.P. Singh-Biju Patnaik-Ajit Singh-Mirdha camp would get 80, and the Devi Lal-Chandra Shekhar group 61. The splinter group, consisting of more than one-third of the party, was in a position to switch sides without being affected by the Anti-Defection Act.November 30, There appears to be a clear and ominous divide between Devi Lal and V.P. Singh. The two leaders, who were in personal contact with each other every hour until the 28th, have not spoken to each other for two days. But this apparent division is part of a strategy masterminded by Arun Nehru along with Arif Mohamnied Khan, Satya Pal Malik, and a senior official from the Intelligence Bureau. The plan: to make an assessment of whether Chandra Shekhar is indeed a contestant, and how much support he enjoys. In doing so, Nehru also seeks to convey the impression to Chandra Shekhar that there is a real falling-out between Devi Lal and V.P. Singh. With this in mind, he advises V.P. Singh's camp to break all contact with Devi Lal while secretly planting key V.P. Singh supporters in Chandra Shekhar's camp to ensure that Chandra Shekhar's support for Devi Lal is absolute. This is part of an intricate design that unfolds the next day.December 1, Devi Lal arises at 6 a.m. and starts contacting key MPs and leaders like Sharad Yadav and Ajit Singh to canvass their support. Chautala, meanwhile, parks himself at Chandra Shekhar's house. The second part of Nehru's strategy is to keep Chandra Shekhar convinced that he is regarded as a real king-maker, and that if he steps down from the contest in favour of Devi Lal he will be doing so from a position of strength. In order to carry out this tactic, Nehru persuades Jyoti Basu and former president Zail Singh, and actor Shatrughan Sinha, who is close to Chandra Shekhar, to convey to Chandra Shekhar that he should help avoid a conflict and disintegration of the party by lending his support to a consensus candidate. And Devi Lal, the very man Chandra Shekhar is secretly backing, appears to be emerging as this consensus candidate. Also, Ram Jethmalani attempts to conduct a fast outside Chandra Shekhar's house to dissuade him from his hostile stance, but is ruthlessly beaten up by hoodlums.As the game continues, the next step is to approach Devi Lal to accept the candidature of V.P. Singh. But Nehru wants to make certain that while this is being accomplished Chautala should not be allowed to meet his father for two crucial hours - between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. When the critical meeting of the parliamentary party for election of the new leader is to begin. Arun Nehru was the master strategist responsible for blunting the political daggers hurled at V.P. Singh. This is accomplished by despatching dozens of senior partymen to lobby Chautala and keep him buttonholed at Chandra Shekhar's residence. Now the crucial question is how to establish contact with Devi Lal. A team of journalists, working closely with the group, requests him to talk to Nehru and V.P. Singh directly to sort out the problems. After considerable dithering, Devi Lal agrees. At 1:30 p.m., Nehru drives in a white Maruti to Haryana Bhawan and has a half-hour closed-door meeting with Devi Lal. He reminds the Jat leader that he is the key architect of opposition unity and the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi and urges him to do his duty to the nation by not allowing party-wreckers to turn victqry into defeat. At 2 p.m. Devi Lal agrees to drive with Nehru to Orissa Bhawan where V.P. Singh and Biju Patnaik are secretly waiting. There ensues a heart-to-heart talk in which Devi Lal recognises the problems for the party's image, but adds that since he's being projected by his followers as the next prime minister, it has now become a matter of personal honour for him. V.P. Singh again plays his famous ' 'withdrawal card", and tells Devi Lal that if that is the case then he would himself propose his name for prime minister. Nehru and Patnaik interject. They argue that since V.P. Singh had made the offer to nominate Devi Lal, and since it was a matter of general agreement that Devi Lal's heart really lay in running Haryana and that V.P. Singh was the only man experienced in running the Central Government, Devi Lal should reciprocate in equal measure. A deal is struck which would guarantee Devi Lal's honour, yet tilt the scales in favour of V.P. Singh.Immediately thereafter, Devi Lal, now part of the Nehru strategy, invites Chandra Shekhar to Orissa Bhawan. The Rajput leader from Ballia is informed that Devi Lal is the consensus candidate whose name would be proposed by V.P. Singh.Chandra Shekhar is asked if he will second the nomination. A beaming Chandra Shekhar agrees, and he and Devi Lal arrive at Parliament House where a throng of supporters scream: "Chandra Shekhar zindabad! Devi Lal zindabad!'' Some.minutes later, Arun Nehru and V.P. Singh arrive. But a little earlier, Nehru makes a key telephone call to Ajit Singh and informs him of the strategy.Arif Mohammed, Arun Nehru, ShuklaWhat transpired at the pariamentary party meeting that egan at 3:15 p.m. was ultimately the unravelling of this meticulous, elaborate and clandestinely designed nuts and bolts strategy, in which an unwary Chandra Shekhar, for long labelled the country's wiliest politician and party wrecker par excellence, was brilliantly checkmated and politically humiliated.And the shock showed on his face as he muttered under his breath: "I'll show them." He spoke briefly afterwards saying: "I support the decision, but with reservations because I was kept in the dark about all this." Later, when saffronrobed N.T. Rama Rao called a general National Front meeting to order, Chandra Shekhar, with a few of his supporters, walked out in obvious disgust.V.P. Singh's fight had been on two fronts. For even as the complex and ultimately successful plan to neutralise Devi Lal and Chandra Shekhar was being carried out, a parallel effort was underway to ensure the support of the BJP without any loss of face either for V.P. Singh or the BJP.The main reason for this was that the mathematics on the basis of which the post-electoral calculations for forming a government were made, went completely awry. The National Front had made its seat adjustments with the BJP and the Left parties in the belief that it would win a total of about 260 seats. This was seen as a comfortable position in which, with the BJP and Leftists receiving about 50 seats each or less, V.P. Singh could rely on the Left for supporting his government even to the exclusion of the BJP, whose support for the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue he had openly condemned.In its calculations, the Front had not even remotely envisaged that a pro-Congress(I) wave in the south, that went against the regional parties of the National Front, would just about wipe out the Front leaving the Janata Dal with about 141 seats in the Lok Sabha. Nor did they calculate that the communists would lose Kerala and leave the CPI(M) with only 32 seats in Parliament.And least of all was the Front prepared for the virtual tidal wave on which the BJP swept into Parliament with 88 seats.Singh's flirtation with the BJP in terms of seat adjustments erected a veritable Frankenstein for the Janata Dal. The contradictions began hitting home as soon as the results began to come. On November 27, V.P. Singh suddenly discovered that he could not possibly form a government without BJP support. And he was unwilling to make a public request soliciting its support because it would have totally contradicted his earlier public posture.Jethmalani being roughed upA major crisis was at hand: it seemed the National Front would fail to form a government. Fumed Advani: "If he wants our support he should accept it publicly. I will not accept his cloak-and-dagger politics." The crisis was finally resolved through the appointment of a committee consisting of V.P. Singh, Rama Rao, Arun Nehru and Ajit Singh to negotiate with the BJP.First, Rama Rao, as National Front chairman, and its convener V.P. Singh, wrote a letter to Advani seeking the BJP'S support. "It is now the sacred duty of all of us to see that this mandate of the people is not frustrated and the formation of a non-Congress(I) government is not delayed to give effect to the hopes and aspirations of the people," the letter read.Next, in secret negotiations between V.P. Singh, Nehru and Advani lasting all night, the problem of whether the BJP would support the National Front from outside or participate within the Government - as a BJP faction led by Advani had been demanding in view of its massive gains in Parliament - was thrashed out. V.P. Singh remained adamantly opposed to this. Again another compromise was hammered out. In return for supporting a government led by V.P. Singh from outside, the BJP demanded that the new government implement certain basic reforms, including: State funding of elections; cleaning the judiciary of political elements; granting autonomy to Doordarshan and All India Radio arriving at a consensus on including Sanskrit in the national multi-lingual formula for different states; replacement of the Minorities Commission by a civil rights commission; immediate dissolution of state assemblies in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra with seat adjustments favouring parties according to the new strength they have demonstrated in the Lok Sabha.All this amounts to virtually unconditional support by the BJP to the new government. It is not even asking the Janata Dal to support the VHP'S proposal for the construction of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, and has also made the commitment that it will prevent construction from starting at least until assembly elections are held in the states.For the time being V.P. Singh has been able to meander his way out of a political thicket of stinging nettles with only a few rashes to show for it. But what is he really presiding over? The brew in his own party consists of unpredictable and rebellious Jats who could well rebel against Devi Lal for standing down; adherents of the former Congress(I) culture; as well as the followers of Chandra Shekhar who have shown themselves capable of unfathomable political mischief. Moreover, Chandra Shekhar, neutralised for the time being, is unlikely to keep silent.Among his allies there is a segment of powerful BJP leaders like L.K. Advani, still smarting under the memory of V.P. Singh having publicly condemned their stance as communal, who may still seek participation in the Government much to the disenchantment of V.P. Singh's newlyacquired Muslim vote-bank in the Hindi heartland.And there is still the spectre of how severely the alliance with the BJP A. JL will be strained once the plan for the construction of the temple in Ayodhya starts moving ahead and how the BJP leadership will respond to pressure from its own militant cadres. Also, strains are bound to develop with the Left during the budget session because it does not entirely see eye to eye with V.P. Singh's liberal economic thinking. Ranged against V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar's supporters beat up Ram Jethmalani when he tried to fast in protest. Then there is Rajiv's Congress(I) to contend with. In fact, the consensus prevailing among political observers when the election results began pouring in was that only a realignment of the opposing factions of the Congress(I) and the Janata Dal could provide a stable government with more than 300 seats. The speculation was that a Congress(I), led into a debacle by Rajiv Gandhi, would be willing to dump him and join hands with V.P. Singh in a new political configuration.But that eventuality was also the victim of the final arithmetic. Today Rajiv Gandhi finds himself sitting pretty as leader of a formidable and undivided opposition facing a potentially fractious ruling party. And there is nobody within the Congress(I) capable or willing to lead a revolt against him.This was amply demonstrated at the party's parliamentary board meeting at 7 p.m. on November 27 where a confident and totally relaxed looking Rajiv, so different from the piteous figure he had cut during the campaign, was unanimously re-elected leader of the party amongst paeans of praise from party members."The election has proven," Rajiv told wildly cheering partymen, "that we are the only national party that stands on a well-founded ideology and does not move from its ideology for momentary gain." The reasons for Rajiv's new-found confidence are not difficult to explain. The power of the syndicate bosses, with the exception of Sharad Pawar, who has openly exhorted all partymen to support Rajiv, has been totally squashed. The electoral numbers have served, in effect, to split the party in Rajiv's favour. The political machines of the potential challengers - N.D. Tiwari, Jagannath Mishra, Amarsinh Chaudhary, Motilal Vora - have been defeated in their own states.And rival power centres within the party like Buta Singh, Shiela Dikshit, K.C. Pant have also been eliminated, leaving Rajiv Gandhi as the only elected national figure in the Congress(I).Besides, the power-base in the party has now shifted to the south - returning as many as 104 of the party's 192 MPs, Most of them owe their tickets and victories to Rajiv Gandhi and are unlikely to try and eject him.Overtly, the Congress(I) will not seek the support of any other group. "But we are not opposed to receiving their support should they choose to give it to us," says Arjun Singh. He was the first partyman to issue a circular to his colleagues asking pledges of support for Rajiv Gandhi.Clearly, he has made a comeback as a key Rajiv adviser, along with Madhavsinh Solanki and Sharad Pawar.The Congress(I)'s game plan, it seems, is to project a sober image, to cooperate with the new government in its investigations, and to project Rajiv not as a humiliated but a humbled and wiser leader in the fashion of the post-Emergency image of Sanjay Gandhi. At the same time, the party will spare no subterfuge to engineer a massive defection from the National Front just before the assembly elections.Singh has achieved a goal even supporters thought impossible. But he faces a continuing uphill battle. As Kamal Nath, one of the few victorius Congress(I) MPs from Madhya Pradesh, put it: "The real campaign has just begun. Some of the elements who were responsible for the prime minister's dilemmas have been wiped out by the people. As far as the new government is concerned, my slogan is, we will meet them, greet them, and then beat them." Should the National Front alliance begin to come unglued, its inability to provide a stable government could be the most potent weapon in the hands of a Congress(I) attempting a comeback.But there are also the pluses for V.P. Singh that cannot be ignored. If he appoints a 5 5-member ministry - and assuming each minister has the support of at least three MPs - he will ensure that at least 150 of his partymen will have a vested, patronage-based interest in not defecting. And there is reason to believe that the Left Front and BJP support for the National Front will be firm at least initially.For, both parties realise that if the Government falls they are unlikely ever to recoup their positions in Parliament. The BJP, in particular, remembers the lesson of 1980 when, because of the failure of the Janata government, it found itself decimated. The party leaders appear committed to not repeating that mistake again.And even with their support, the National Front can hope to chalk up no more than an uncomfortable majority of 281 seats. Moves are already underway to garner the support of independents and satellite groups such as the Simranjit Singh Mann supporters. Together, these comprise about 40 MPs and plans are afoot to include them in the Government by giving them ministerial berths.The immediate plan is to incrementally build up the core group to about 200 by chipping away at the satellite groups that now support the Congress(I). And the long-term strategy is to weaken Rajiv's position even further, not by punishing him, but by opening up all the files on scandals and related improprieties, and thereby pulling down his image to such an extent that he becomes an embarrassment and liability to his own party. In this eventuality, National Front strategists figure, Congressmen will have little option but to defect in large numbers, thereby giving the National Front a comfortable majority in which it will have to depend neither on the BJP nor the communists.But beyond the strategy, there is the enigma of V.P. Singh himself. While he now boasts an 'A' Team of Nehru, Arif, V.C. Shukla, Inder Gujral, Satya Pal Malik, he still trusts no aides, but only his inner voice that he has repeatedly said never fails to serve him in coming to the right decision. The turbulent transition in government, while it provides V.P.Singh as an alternative and a minimum programme of opposition unity must now demonstrate that if the Congress(I) had destroyed national consensus, as V.P. Singh clalms, a new one must emerge in its place.The electorate has shown that it is a harsh task-master and will brook no excuses for incompetence, arrogance, and the failure to deliver. V.P. Singh too will find himself subjected to remorseless scrutiny. The problems he faces are Herculean. Especially since he is still performing a balancing act on a precarious tightrope and will be appointing a meal-ticket ministry, catering to the greed of people within his own party through massive patronage.The acid test for the new Mr Clean will be his ability to ensure that those given key ministries provide a ruthlessly clean government. Otherwise the "alternative" will all have been in vain. There is little doubt, that so far V.P. Singh has achieved a goal even his most ardent supporters believed was an impossibility.During the past two-and-a half years, he had chalked out a war front and a peace front. The war front was Rajiv Gandhi. The peace front, despite its contradictions stemming from the fact that so many discredited and corrupt politicians had flocked to his bandwagon, was his party. Sooner than later he will have to choose two similar fronts in his own party. The war has only just begun. And in resolving these contradictions, Singh may continue to baffle and confound the Doubting Thomases as he has done for the past three years. But his task has only one direction: uphill.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Dec 15, 1989 00:00 IST--- ENDS ---

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V.P. Singh becomes new prime minister of India, National Front comes to power

Even as the National Front was hurtling towards forming the new government, 48 hours of dramatic developments were demonstrating how precariously the new government is balanced.

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