Loyalty measured in narrow terms: Arjun

Sat, May 10 12:50 AM

HUMAN RESOURCE Minister Arjun Singh on Friday launched a none-too-veiled criticism of lack of inner-party democracy in the Congress, prompting a snub from another senior leader who said that loyalty to leadership did not mean one could get whatever he wanted. "These days, loyalty is measured in narrow terms," Singh said at a book launch, comparing the present with the times when Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi led the party.

Few Congress leaders attended the launch of a book on Singh - Mohin Kahan Vishram (No Rest for Me) - though organisers said invites were sent out to all. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sat through the hour-long function but chose not to speak.

He and the HRD minister are said not to have the best of working relations, and the latter is facing increasing isolation in the party that he once significantly influenced. The 76-year-old minister has been in Congress for more than five decades.

President Pratibha Patil received the first copy of the book. Recalling how he was "blessed" by Indira and Sanjay Gandhi, his criticism of emergency notwithstanding, Singh said: "I had expressed my reservations about emergency and #8230;But neither Indiraji nor Sanjayji held it against me and #8230; Those days, loyalty was understood differently.

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Dhawan, Congress general secretary and a key aide of Indira Gandhi during the emergency, said: "I am unable to understand whether there is some unhappiness or some hidden agenda behind this statement. Congress president takes decisions after consultations in the working committee.

If someone sent a personal note that was not accepted, it does not mean lack of democracy," he said. Arjun Singh is known to send notes to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on various issues.

The HRD minister praised the Gandhi-Nehru family for its "ability to identify the genuinely loyal people from the pretenders." Dhawan also countered Arjun's claims on emergency.

"I am not aware of any occasion on which Mr Singh expressed reservations about the emergency," he said. Speaking to reporters after the function, Arjun refused to elaborate.

"Everything changes and one has to accept changes, good and bad," he said.

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