On June 25, the nation quietly marked the 94th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh. The first political leader to publicly remember him was Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who tweeted early in the morning—a lone acknowledgment in a political landscape that has largely erased VP Singh from memory.
It is a tragic irony that the man who reshaped Indian politics with his bold stance on social justice has become a footnote. Today, the Sangh Parivar is preoccupied with commemorating the anniversary of the Emergency, while the Congress Party, despite its supposed reckoning with caste issues, remains conspicuously silent. For the Congress, VP Singh is the man who "destroyed" the party. And in a sense, he did—but not in the way they claim.
VP Singh didn’t destroy the Congress. Rather, he exposed and dismantled the hegemony of the Brahmin-Bania elite that had long controlled the party machinery. It is this deep discomfort with his audacity to challenge upper-caste dominance that led to his isolation. Rahul Gandhi may have finally embraced the rhetoric of caste census and social justice—but his party’s refusal to acknowledge VP Singh's legacy reveals a stunning lack of introspection. Even the so-called pro-Congress journalists rarely question the party’s moral failure in not owning up to its casteist past or recognizing Singh’s contributions.
Let’s be clear: VP Singh never disowned the Congress. He served Indira Gandhi loyally. Yet, while the Congress welcomed back political turncoats like H.N. Bahuguna—who oscillated between parties for sheer ambition and whose children were rewarded with political plum posts—the party remained unforgiving toward Singh. Even after his death, even after Rajiv Gandhi’s death, the bitterness endures.
In Parliament, Rajiv Gandhi vehemently opposed the Mandal Commission report. That is not conjecture—it is part of the official record. The Congress must own this history. If it now seeks to champion the cause of caste census and social justice, it cannot continue to whitewash the past or ignore the pioneers who made sacrifices for these ideals.
Equally troubling is how north Indian "backward" parties have jumped on the Brahmin appeasement bandwagon, offering symbolic respect to B.P. Mandal while ignoring grassroots leaders like Lalai Singh Yadav, whose work in the field of social justice was far more significant. It was VP Singh, not B.P. Mandal, who took the political risk of implementing the Mandal Commission recommendations. He bore the brunt, including losing the Prime Minister’s chair, for choosing the path of justice over expediency.
And yet, the leaders who claim the legacy of social justice have little time to remember this man of principle.
It is time for the Congress to come clean. If it wishes to reclaim moral leadership in Indian politics, it must acknowledge and apologize for the way it treated both VP Singh and Arjun Singh—leaders who embodied the spirit of secularism and equity. This aspect of Congress’s legacy, far more than the Emergency, remains its most shameful chapter.
On this day, we remember VP Singh—not just as a former Prime Minister, but as a political visionary who brought probity, clean politics, secularism, and a commitment to social justice to the forefront of national discourse. His legacy deserves more than silence.
Let history not forget those who stood on the right side of justice.
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*Human rights defender
Good article to keep the powers be in check.
ReplyDeleteA side story: On a recent visit to veteran Ambedkarites in the UK, I noticed appreciation and active political memory of the 1990s. This was the age when they were most active, flowing into the aughts. They spoke highly of V P Singh. They bragged about their friendship and close connection with Mr Singh. Mr M S Bahal was proud to show his palatial London house, inaugurated by V P Singh. They shared personal anecdotes revealing the love they had for the former PM.