The Amar Singh Chat
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 5:38 IST)
Hi
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:5 IST)
Hello everybody I am here and happy new year to all of you. You ask the questions now.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 7:54 IST)
By joining hands with the Congress party, don't you think you have become vulnerable? I mean, the voters may now transfer their dislike for the Congress on to the Samajwadi Party
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:8 IST)
Princess: No I don't think we have become vulnerable because we are not at all supporting Congress. Only in Maharashtra we have entertained overtures of Mr. Sharad Pawar in order to avoid a split in non-BJP votes. And we are most certainly not going for a joint campaign. We are also not going to forgive the Congress particularly for the demolition of the Babri mosque.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 7:38 IST)
Hello Mr Amar Singh, welcome to this chat, how are you? are we talking to the future in-charge of the PMO under Mulayam Singh Yadav?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:9 IST)
Princess: How sweet! Thank you very much. I wish your predictions will become a reality soon.
Shatru (Fri Jan 16 1998 7:51 IST)
Good evening Mr Singh, sir which party do you think will win the forthcoming election?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:11 IST)
Shatru: I think no party will be able to win an absolute majority and non BJP secular forces will come together once again.
Ananath Narayanan (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:9 IST)
Mr Singh: Is it true that Laloo Yadav put an hindrance for Mulayam's selection to the PM's post after the Deve Gowda government fell??
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:12 IST)
Ananth Narayan: You are absolutely correct. Mulayam Singh almost became prime minister but Laloo and Sharad Yadav put their foot down.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:14 IST)
What do you think of Muslims taking to the BJP? If you don't believe it is true, how do you explain Aslam Sher Khan joining the BJP? Is there a danger of the Muslims transferring their anger at the Congress party to the SP?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:16 IST)
Princess: Individuals are not representative of an entire community. Minorities will never go to the saffron brigade. BJP is a party which indulges in double speak they have got several faces. Atal is the soft face while the real face is the RSS. RSS chief Prof. Rajendra Singh proclaimed in a recent Nagpur RSS gathering that the religious agenda of the BJP regarding Mathura, Kashi and Ayodhya would not be diluted. This is enough reason for minority to see sense.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:11 IST)
But what is the bigger task, to halt the BJP in Maharashtra or in Uttar Pradesh? Then why are you not having seat arrangements with the Congress in UP?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:21 IST)
Princess: Bigger task is to stop BJP in Uttar Pradesh but unfortunately the Congress is not a formidable force there. And as far as BSP is concerned their secular credentials are very doubtful. Because in the past they have joined hands with communal forces twice and Mr. Kanshi Ram blatantly says that his election manifesto is opportunism and convenience. How can you rely on such unpredictable and mercurial politicians?
Jamshed (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:10 IST)
Mr Amar Singh: Who do you think will form the next government>? And how has Sonia Gandhi's entry into politics changed the balance?
Manjula (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:15 IST)
Mr Singh: Don't you think Sonia Gandhi's entry will swing votes in favour of the Congress party?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:23 IST)
Jamshed and Manjula: I wish well for Sonia and Congress, at least if they succeed the saffron brigade would be checked.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:21 IST)
Some call you wheeler-dealer, some call you spin doctor, some Mulayam's minder. What are you, any of the above, all of the above or none of the above? if the last, what are you? how do you describe what you do for a living? do you earn a fixed salary, or is it left open? is your income taxable?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:29 IST)
Princess: Sweetheart, thank you for being so candid. I don't deserve so many adjectives as mentioned in your question. I am a self-made man. I have not inherited anything from my family. I have worked really hard in life. I have got an industry, manufacturing organic chemicals. I am putting up a small hydro power plant in the state of Karnataka. I am on the board of many respectable companies like the Hindustan Times Ltd., I have also served on the board of State Bank of India and Indian Airlines. When the government appointed me on these boards through various agencies they made sure that I was neither a wheeler nor a dealer. I don't have any children and for both of us, meaning to say husband and wife, God has given lots to lead a clean and transparent life. I regularly pay not only my income tax but also my wealth tax. If you want further details about me I can instruct my tax consultant to get in touch with you.
Vidya (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:27 IST)
Mr Singh: Though Mulayam Singh was the chief minister of UP when BJP was out of power. Why Mulayam could not stop BJP from growing in the state??
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:32 IST)
Vidya: Mulayam Singh is the only politician who realised that non BJP forces Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party should be united to finish off BJP. He did it once. Subsequently Mayawati's political lust took over and she went the BJP way twice and the rest is history as you know. Mulayam is the only politician who is still fighting BJP and communal forces single-handedly.
Arvind (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:29 IST)
Mr Singh: Is it true that because of you, union communication minister Beni Prasad Verma has distanced himself from Mulayam Singh. In fact, he is planning to join the Congress or the Janata Dal in UP???
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:33 IST)
Arvind: I don't think that it is true. And nobody is more important than the organisation. This includes me also.
Guest (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:26 IST)
Mr. Singh, How do you read the results of the latest Vidhan Parishad elections, in which your party was defeated soundly by the BJP.
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:41 IST)
Guest: Actually Vidhan Parishad elections were to be concluded on December 29, 1997 and on Dec 28 evening we came to know that the election commission has reprimanded the BJP government for misusing government machinery to induce voters. Subsequently elections have been postponed to January 13. While the Samajwadi Party exhausted all its resources and opened up all its cards, assuming 28 as the last day of the poll campaign, BJP got an extra 13 days' time to pool in a lot of money as well as muscle power for the elections. Known mafia dons like Chulbul Singh in Varanasi and Ajit Singh in Lucknow were the official candidates of BJP. Inspite of money and AK-47s I wonder how we got even 11 seats. You will be happy to know that on at least another 11 seats our margin of defeat was very narrow like in Allahabad which is former BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi's constituency our margin of defeat was only 50 votes and that too engineered by the Superintendent of Police, Allahabad.
Gundera (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:25 IST)
Mr Amar Singh WHAT IS THE AGENDA THAT YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR IN THESE ELECTIONS?
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:46 IST)
Gundera: We are fighting this election for the prosperity of the common man for the security of minorities for the upliftment of youth, women, labourers, the backwards and farmers. We have given a slogan -- Jai Jawan Jai Kisan and Jai Musalman. We will also expose Pramod Mahajan's plank of able leadership and stable government. An able leader like Atalji who is a mute spectator of his own cabinet minister being stripped naked in his presence at Ahmedabad. I am referring to Mr. Atmaram Patel. The same able leader makes a political assessment and falls flat within 13 days. I don't have to say much about his ability his own party's ideologue K. Govindacharya and his much publicised diary are good enough proof. As goes stability how stable was Gujarat government all of you know.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:46 IST)
That is certainly a strange reply to Arvind's question about the vidhan parishad elections. What you are saying is that the voter has no commitment to your cause, and is easily swayed by blandishments and threats, is it? Or else, 13 days or 130, they ought to be waiting to vote for you. Similarly, if you lose in Maharashtra, you will say the same thing about the BJP-Sena government, that they threw money and threats!!
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:53 IST)
Princess: Darling, it seems you are unnecessarily biased or prejudiced. You must realise that electoral college of Vidhan Parishad election is comprised of local leaders like gram pradhan, panchayat pradhan, MLAs and MPs. They are more vulnerable to BJP's evil designs compared to honest common voters like you. BJP has displayed their expertise twice in the recent past. In Uttar Pradesh they collectively bribed all the defectors, including goondas, by offering them ministerial berth. And Advaniji openly said on the national network, "I had managed forty defectors and I am short of only 10." In Bhubaneswar Atalji justified his party's immoral style of politics by dubbing this current trend as practical politics.
Arvind (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:43 IST)
Mr Singh: Mulayam Singh's education?????
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:54 IST)
Arvind: Mulayam Singhji is a post graduate and he believes in Lok bhusha, lok bhasha and lok ahar. That is why he prefers Hindi to English.
Arvind (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:50 IST)
Mr Singh: How can you talk about Kisan when your entire UF cabinet was following the liberalisation like the Congress party? In fact, Mulayam Singh is also going on begging to the foreign investors?? Isn't it true???
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:58 IST)
Arvind: The United Front government might have pursued liberalisation but inspite being a part of this government Samajwadi party always resisted anti-farmer moves. Like we have always opposed GATT and not only this foreign investors like Singapore Airlines in colloboration with the TATAS would have seriously hampered local Indian companies like the indian Airlines, jet airways etc. WE tried to see that local industries whether in the private sector or in the public sector do not suffer at the cost of foreign investors. WE have never begged for foreign investment at the cost of our local industry.
Arvind (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:41 IST)
Mr Singh: Your bio-data states that you have not participated in any political movements? Do you feel it is ethical on your part to occupy such an important post when 100s of people who have struggled their life die without any important posts in the party??
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 9:7 IST)
Arvind: Princess was more interested on the financial aspect of my bio data. I am glad you are interested in Amar Singh, the politician. When I was 18 years old, I got myself enrolled in Chatra Parishad, a student wing of the Congress in Calcutta. I struggled hard against the Naxalite movement under the leadership of Shri Subhroto Mukherjee, who is at present an MLA and the president of the West Bengal unit of INTUC. Subsequently I got in close touch with Shri Madhavrao Scindia and started working very closely with him and got myself elected as an AICC member from Madhya Pradesh. When my friend and leader Mr Scindia got framed in false cases and unceremoniously denied a Congress ticket from Gwalior I became totally disenchanted with Congress, and left the Congress after Mr. Scindia floated his own regional outfit called Madhya Pradesh Vikas Congress. Since I originally belong to Uttar Pradesh and since Mulayam Singhji knew me well, I was invited to his party. I joined it and since Samajwadi party was a new party I got lot of scope opportunity chance to get proper political recognition. I hope I have quenched your curiosity.
princess (Fri Jan 16 1998 8:59 IST)
Oh believe me, I have no bias or prejudice against you or your party. But I am biased in favour of Muslims etc who have been taken in so many times in the past by so many sweet-talking politicos. Regardless of who is in power, there has been no change in their conditions, they are still unsafe, poor, uneducated. I mean, the whole thing is a rigmarole, isn't it? Politics is all about playing on the voters' gullibility, weakness, insecurity to gain power, isn't it? Or else, you tell me, was there any appreciable change in the Muslims lifestyle when Mulayam or Kalyan Singh ruled UP? This is not bias against you, but for the voter
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 9:14 IST)
Princess: Mulayam Singh's government was the only one who really worked for the upliftment of minorities. Inspite of pressure from the then Prime Minister he took drastic measures, unlike Narasimha Rao, to save the Babri mosque. He feels by saving the Babri mosque he has not obliged minorities but he has only upheld the constitution of India. Upliftment of Urdu literature, compulsory teaching of Urdu language appointment of many Urdu teachers, a fairly large number of Muslims getting job opportunity in the government were some of the highlights of the Mulayam regime. He did so much for Muslims that he was dubbed Maulana Mulayam Khan by the RSS. Be my personal guest, spend some time with the common Muslim populace and you will appreciate that I am not taking you for a ride. You are very sweet and kind hearted. Kindly excuse me. I am going home, otherwise I will be lynched by my wife who is waiting for me for dinner.
Mr Amar Singh (Fri Jan 16 1998 9:14 IST)
Bye-Bye everybody.
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