– by Shubhabrata Bhattacharya
GOVERNANCE in India continues to suffer the populism unleashed
in 1980s by Vishwanath Pratap Singh in his bid to seize power. A junior
politician till Sanjay Gandhi took fancy to him, VP Singh was pitchforked as
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1980. Singh’s tenure in UP was marked by
encounters against dacoits; the phenomenon called Phoolan Devi (a Backward,
Mallah by caste, who killed Rajputs) was the byproduct of Singh’s populism.
Unfortunate slaying of Singh’s brother by dacoits put an end to the nightmare
and he quit as the Chief Minister. As Union minister, thereafter, he flagged
the Bofors issue. This unsolved CBI case cost Rajiv Gandhi power and Singh rode
to power on his slogan, “Paisa khaya kaun dalal?” As the Prime Minister,
identity of the “dalal” eluded him. His regime, backed by the Left and the
Right political forces, was threatened when BJP unleashed the Ram Mandir
agitation and LK Advani’s rath rolled from Somnath.
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