by Harihar Swarup
Arun Singh — a master in defence planning
AN unfamiliar figure was seen during last few months of Indira Gandhi at 1, Safdarjung Road, the Prime Minister’s residence. He was mostly in the company of Rajiv Gandhi and the Prime Minister was as affectionate to him as her son. Visitors to the 1, Safdarjung Road, which included Chief Ministers and senior Congress leaders, were often inquisitive about the moustached, reserved-looking young man. Mrs Gandhi’s personal staff would politely tell them: “He is Arun Singh, Rajiv’s friend”.

When a Chief Minister crossed the LoC
AT the recent conference of Chief Ministers called by the Prime Minister to discuss the Kargil situation, except the unanimous support and solidarity with the Indian soldiers engaged in the battle in Kargil, the views expressed by the participants were on political lines.

75 Years Ago

Frontier news
Brilliant capture of raiders
PESHAWAR: The news has been received of a brilliant success against the raiders by the Daraban Frontier Constabulary supported by the police and assisted by the unarmed villagers.

by Harihar Swarup
Arun Singh — a master in defence planning

AN unfamiliar figure was seen during last few months of Indira Gandhi at 1, Safdarjung Road, the Prime Minister’s residence. He was mostly in the company of Rajiv Gandhi and the Prime Minister was as affectionate to him as her son. Visitors to the 1, Safdarjung Road, which included Chief Ministers and senior Congress leaders, were often inquisitive about the moustached, reserved-looking young man. Mrs Gandhi’s personal staff would politely tell them: “He is Arun Singh, Rajiv’s friend”.

Arun Singh was, afterall, Rajiv’s classmate at the Doon school and must be visiting the PM house during vacations. Both were of exactly the same age; born in 1944. When Rajiv Gandhi set up his own office at 2-A, Motilal Nehru Marg, after being nominated the General Secretary of the AICC, Arun Singh looked after the establishment. Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers, PCC Presidents, Congress workers and diplomats called on Rajiv and Arun, as his close friend and aide, often received them, talked to them. This was Arun Singh’s first exposure to politics but, unlike Arun Nehru, who also frequented 2, Motilal Marg, he never threw his weight about.

Biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha were due in March 1984 and, as usual, there was a scramble for tickets. First the name of Arun Singh was mentioned in hushed tones as a possible choice and then it became almost certain that Rajiv’s buddy would be one of the nominees from Uttar Pradesh. Arun Singh became an M.P. in April, 1984, but maintained a low profile, never demonstrating his proximity to Rajiv and Indira Gandhi.

Then came those fateful shots at 1, Safdarjung Road. Time appeared to have stopped at 9.30 AM at 1, Safdarjung Road on October 31, 1994, Mrs Gandhi was assassinated by two of her bodyguards.

This was the most trying moment in Rajiv’s life; grief of the tragic loss of his mother and also carrying on the burden of the government and the party. Arun Singh stood by his friend, sharing his grief and helping him in running the country. Both were novices in politics as well as in administration.

Rajiv decided to dissolve the Lok Sabha, five months before the scheduled general election and opted for a snap poll. He took upon himself the burden of campaigning and the marathon electioneering lasted 14 to 15 hours every day, spread over 20 days.

Travelling by aircraft, helicopter and by road Rajiv addressed 15 to 20 meetings each day. His only companion on these gruelling trips was Arun Singh who, besides chalking out his complicated itinerary, provided feedback and political inputs for each of the states Rajiv visited. He also simultaneously maintained contacts with the AICC headquarters in Delhi and the Prime Minister’s house, obtained fresh material for Rajiv’s election speeches and kept him abreast of the latest developments.

Arun Singh might not have been so well versed in politics at that time but his organising capacity, meticulous planning of an event and capacity to absorb details of volumes of notes and printed material has been fantastic. These qualities came to the fore when Rajiv, having won the largest ever mandate of the people in the December, 1984, elections, appointed him Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Everything important, including sensitive files, passed through him and, at times, he processed them for the PM. Arun Singh became the most important man in the then ruling dispensation. But it must be said to his credit that he never utilised his position for self glorification. Power never went into his head nor did he ever go out of his way to favour friends and relatives. It is generally believed that the PMO’s decline began after the exit of Arun Singh.

Though Arun Singh was shifted to the Ministry of Defence as Minister of State and it was a promotion for him, Rajiv was deprived of a trusted aide. This was the time the Prime Minister needed most men like Arun Singh; sycophants, time-servers and “power brokers” had began making in roads into Rajiv’s circle. Having taken full advantage of his proximity to P.M. Arun Nehru had become very powerful in the Home Ministry.

Arun Singh’s talents sparkled in the Defence Ministry. Having the knack of going into minutest details, capacity to understand and absorb intricate defence matters, he struck excellent rapport with the armed forces.

Arun Singh delivered his short political career’s best speech while replying to a special 11-and-a-half hour debate in the Rajya Sabha on the Bofors contract in April, 1987. He not only ably defended the contract and the Prime Minister but also demonstrated superb knowledge of defence matters. His response to members demand for technical details of the weapons used by the Army was: “Technical specifications known to users in the country of use are secrets. In fact, one of the problems of espionage, one fundamental purposes of espionage, other than destabilisation of the political system, is to unearth these military secrets. Military secrets are principally these technical specifications of equipment. and, therefore, when we talk about secrecy in defence. It is not with the intention of concealing corruption”.

It is generally believed that Arun Singh quit the Defence Ministry following differences with Rajiv Gandhi on the Bofors issue. There were other reasons and lot of gossip too for estrangement between two very good friends but very few know the real reason. Months after he ceased to be MOD, Arun Singh was asked by V.P. Singh when he was Prime Minister, to head a committee on defence expenditure.

He produced an excellent report and made valuable suggestions but, regrettably, the documents still remain confidential and are yet to see the light of the day.

According to portions of the reports leaked, he had suggested complete overhaul of higher command strategy, integration of bureaucracy with armed forces thereby slackening the hold of officialdom on the army. He strongly recommended that the three army chiefs should have direct access to the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister and they need not go through the Defence Secretary.

It is said Arun Singh withdrew completely from public life and moved to a forlorn town, Bindsar, near Ranikhet in the Kumaon hills, more for personal reasons. He became virtually a recluse. His return to South Block after a decade has surprised many. There is no reason to doubt when External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh says Arun Singh was known to him personally for years and in the wake of the Kargil conflict offered his services to the Government. True to his character, Arun Singh, will accept a monthly salary of Re 1 only.

When a Chief Minister crossed the LoC

AT the recent conference of Chief Ministers called by the Prime Minister to discuss the Kargil situation, except the unanimous support and solidarity with the Indian soldiers engaged in the battle in Kargil, the views expressed by the participants were on political lines.

While the Chief Ministers belonging to Congress-ruled and Left-ruled states harped upon the need to call the Rajya Sabha session to discuss the Kargil situation, those who opposed were from states where the BJP or their allies were in power.

When the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Digvijay Singh, raised the issue of intrusions and crossing of the LoC by Pakistani intruders and the failure to detect, the observation of Mizoram Chief Minister Zoram Thanga was stunning.

Apparently when the turn of Mr Thanga, who belongs to the Mizo National Front, came to put across his views before the House, he remarked that crossing the LoC was not such a big deal and cited that he himself had done so several times in the past. Mr Thanga said that among other areas he had crossed it both in the Kashmir and Punjab sector.

It is not known in what capacity the MNF leader crossed the Line of Control nor did anyone raise the question. Some things are best left silent.

Rabri Devi and the conference

It is well-known that the Bihar Chief Minister, Mrs Rabri Devi, turns to her husband and the President of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, for his counsel on all affairs of the state, yet he cannot be present at official meetings when he has no role to play.

And the Chief Ministers’ conference was one such occasion. Mr Yadav could not be present at the meeting in any capacity since it was only for the Chief Ministers and their usual retinue of officials.

While there is not much that the Chief Ministers have to do when they read from prepared texts, but what happens at informal occasions.

Well there was one such situation at the meeting when the Chief Ministers and all participants broke for lunch hosted in honour of the dignitaries by the Union Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani.

While most of the leaders were either engaged in polite conversation with fellow Chief Ministers over lunch, Mrs Rabri Devi was found sitting quietly in a corner nibbling at the food.

Perhaps, being a lady Chief Minister, the exchanges at lunch with her were limited to courteous ‘Namaskars’ and no more.

Seeing the Bihar Chief Minister sitting all by herself, a thoughtful officer of the Home Ministry, who hails from her state greeted her and made her feel comfortable. The officer had known the Yadav family from his days in the state and so he also took the liberty of introducing her to some other distinguished participants. The days of chivalry are not yet over!

Migratory birds

The arrival of the migratory birds of the political kind is happening now in the Congress, much after its imminence was announced by a senior leader, Mr Arjun Singh.

Nothwithstanding the shock given to the Congress by the Nationalist Congress Party of Mr Sharad Pawar, several political persons belonging to other formations are knocking at the doors of the AICC.

After the merger of Mr Shankarsinh Vaghela’s Rashtriya Janata Party with the Congress, now the moves of the Tamil Maanila Congress of Mr G.K. Moopanar and the Haryana Vikas Party of Mr Bansi Lal are being watched with keenness.

Meanwhile, there are reports that a former Mahendragarh MP, Col Ram Singh, is among those who are seeking re-entry into the Congress.

Col Ram Singh, who was a Minister of State in the Narasimha Rao Government between 1992 and 1996, had crossed over and was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket.

As a senior office-bearer put it, there are many who are queuing up at 24, Akbar Road but the final nod has to come from the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi.

Cong strategy session

More about the Chief Ministers’ conference. A day before the meeting the CMs of Congress-ruled states were called for a special briefing by the party leaders, including Mr Pranab Mukherjee and Mr K. Natwar Singh.

The Congress which had been pressing for a special session of the Rajya Sabha to discuss the Kargil situation wanted its Chief Ministers to reiterate the demand from the forum being made available to them.

Interestingly, while Mrs Shiela Dikshit (Delhi), Mr Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Mr Digvijay Singh (Madhya Pradesh), Mr Girdhar Gamang (Orissa) promptly put forward the party view, Mr Mukut Mithi (Arunachal Pradesh) and Mr S.C. Jamir (Nagaland) preferred to remain neutral.

While the official briefing by the Centre was done by the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Pramod Mahajan, the Congress Chief Ministers decided to hold a parallel briefing for the media to give their viewpoint. Yet, while most of the media in Delhi was invited in their wisdom the managers did not inform the party central media unit in the AICC. So much for keeping the communication lines open within the organisation.

Media leads

The surge of patriotism amongst the younger generation, who had never been witness to a war, has been quite encouraging and it is all thanks to the battle-front reporting by the media, including television channels.

The Indian Army has also made special provisions to facilitate on-the-spot coverage by the electronic media as real images of the jawans battling it out in the icy mountains stir the people.

The positive side of the media coverage of the Kargil conflict notwithstanding, the presence of a large number of journalists has also had its negative side.

Army sources have revealed that there were several instances when artillery fire from across the Line of Control caught Indian movement on the wrong foot.

It was later discovered that the hi-tech satellite phones used by the media persons were the culprits. While journalists flashed news of the Indian troop movement to their respective headquarters through the satellite phones, the enemy interceptors were also lending their ear to it.

Having intercepted some message from the scribes, the rival side would promptly target areas where the movements were taking place. The Indian Army has now placed restrictions on the movement of journalists in the Kargil sector and for all practical purposes the scribes are now being taken on a conducted tour.

Is it a case of a bad PR exercise? For having allowed the media the Army should have briefed them about the “dos and don’ts” on the battlefront.

Forced donation

The Kargil conflict has the unstinted support of the entire nation and the civilians are sharing their concern for the jawans at the battlefront by contributing their mite to the various funds being operated for relief works.

Though donations for the funds are entirely voluntary, several people are finding that donations are being forcibly thrust on them. For instance several schools in the Capital have joined the race to collect funds for the soldiers. The schools enthusiasm is understandable but then it is the students who have to bear the brunt. Several schools have asked pupils to contribute to the fund. Since these children don’t earn, the children promptly shift the responsibility on the parents.

In most cases parents who have already contributed one day’s earning or even more for the fund have to oblige their child or children and for that matter the school. While one is spontaneous in this case the donation is made grudgingly.

Hafta problem

The other day this diarist saw a cop in the busy Connaught Place commercial complex directing roadside vendors to clear up as there was going to be a “surprise” raid. The roadside vendors were naturally upset as they had already paid their weekly offering, commonly known as “Hafta” to the police and other civic authorities.

The cop was heard telling them to hide their goods for some time and return to their places after receiving a signal from him. This is not an isolated incident and this practice of Hafta is prevalent all over the city.

The National Human Rights Commission recently took note of this dubious practice when it heard the case of a fruit vendor being beaten to death for failing to pay his Hafta to the police.

The Commission has now directed the authorities to get rid of this menace and as a precedent has ordered the Delhi Government to compensate the fruit vendor’s family.

(Contributed by T.V. Lakshminarayan, K.V. Prasad, Girija Shanker Kaura and P.N. Andley)

75 YEARS AGO
Frontier news
Brilliant capture of raiders

PESHAWAR: The news has been received of a brilliant success against the raiders by the Daraban Frontier Constabulary supported by the police and assisted by the unarmed villagers. They attacked, surrounded, killed, wounded and captured the entire raiding gang of 11 Mahsuds, including four notorious outlaws.

Among them is the Mahsud leader who wounded the District Officer, Daraban, last year and the gang is the same which ambushed the police at Khawar in June last. The constabulary lost one of its men, and two unarmed villagers were also shot.

It is not yet known whether this gang was responsible for the kidnapping of travellers, mostly Hindus, on the Daraban road, on April 16 last.