“This man had predicted that
Modi would never become PM”
Bharat Bhushan
JAMMU, Aug 12: With complete disregard to ethical and political principles, Congress leader Lal Singh, ex-MP and a one-time contractor, is all set to embrace BJP, which he once considered "untouchable". A severe critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he now plans to ride Modi wave. His is the perfect example of political opportunism which has the connotation of a lack of integrity.
Modi was the most hated face for him till a few weeks back but when he learnt that Congress had shut all doors on him and decided against fielding him and his wife Kanta in the upcoming state elections, he took a U-turn and, to the surprise of all, started showering praises on the prime minister.
But local BJP leaders do not have any liking for him. Reason: They feel that his move to join the saffron brigade is primarily guided by his vested political motives and not by the party's ideology. In his brief address a few days before the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, he had called BJP a party of "thieves, deceits, unreliable people and hoarders".
Throughout his address, he was very sarcastic of Modi, Advani and BJP. Mocking Modi, he had even predicted that the BJP leader's dream of becoming prime minister would never be fulfilled.
He had also drawn a comparison, which many term as unreasonable, between Rahul Gandhi and Modi, saying if the former is "Raja Bhoj", the latter is "Gangoo Teli". "Gandhis have a history and Modi stands nowhere in front of them," he had stated, while claiming that he was very close to Rahul and "knows personally about his honesty and statesmanship". "What do these BJP people know about him? They criticise him because they don't know about his greatness," he had said.
"We are opposed to his entry into the party only because he is the only Congress leader from the state who has used all wrong words for Modi, Advani and BJP,"said a state BJP leader.
There was unliking for him in the Congress too. A senior state Congress leader said the party had this time decided against fielding him from anywhere in Kathua district due to a noticeable decline in the graph of his public "acceptability" due to varied reasons. Since he was aware of the Congress mood against him, he left the party, he added.
Lal Singh knew that, under the prevailing circumstances, it would be literally difficult for him to win election on his own as an independent candidate, so he joined BJP, the Congress leader opined, saying no other party would have accepted him at this juncture.
His downfall in Congress started actually after he was denied party ticket from Udhampur-Doda Lok Sabha constituency in the recently held polls. He was replaced by Ghulam Nabi Azad but he too had lost.
Throughout his political career, he has been using the worst kind of words while assailing BJP, NC and PDP. Since NC and PDP have a weak political base in the cities and towns of Jammu, he chose to be a part of BJP. It, however, now remains to be seen how he performs in the state politics where he is known more for his "off-the-cuff" and "tongue-in-cheek" remarks. The state BJP cadres feel that his joining the party was not going to make any difference in Kathua or in any other part of the state for that matter.
He decided to try his luck in politics during the 1996 assembly polls in the state with the support of Gulchain Singh Charak, his mentor. Charak was that time holding conferences and meeting variety of people to garner support for Arjun Singh who was virtually forced to quit Congress at the Centre in 1994 and float Congress (Tiwari) along with N D Tiwari.
As Charak was already in search for potential candidates to be fielded in the 1996 assembly polls on Congress (T) tickets, Lal Singh was given the mandate from Basohli seat which he won. When the Congress (T) later merged with Congress, he too was absorbed in Congress.
In 2002, he again was elected from Basohli. In 2003, he was made health minister. In 2004, he was elected to Lok Sabha from the Udhampur-Doda seat. He was re-elected from there in 2009.
Before the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, the segment was considered to be the citadel of the BJP. Chaman Lal Gupta represented this constituency for three 45,000 votes. This margin narrowed down to about 13,000 votes in the 2009 elections.
"He left the Congress because he felt that the party now had nothing to give him," the Congress leader said.
He and his wife have in the past represented Basohli assembly segment which is now held by BJP's Jagdish Spolia. Since Spolia is likely to again get the party ticket from there, Lal Singh would make every effort to get BJP ticket from Kathua constituency. He plans to ride Modi wave to win and would not, in any case, like to miss this opportunity. |
