Tuesday, February 11th, 2025

Arif Mohammad was upset with a decision of VP Singh, the former PM went home and apologized, know that story

Author: K.C. solitaire
In 1984, Congress Party was on top in the sympathy wave. Then Arif Mohammad Khan, who became the new Governor of Bihar, came to the centre. he/she was elected student union president of Aligarh Muslim University in 1974. After the Emergency, in 1977, he/she became the youngest minister in Ramnaresh Yadav’s cabinet by being elected from Sayana assembly constituency of Bulandshahr. But by 1978, his/her ideas started shaking. he/she opened the first front against his/her own government when the Ramnaresh government decided to give minority status to Aligarh Muslim University. he/she argued that the university should be seen as a public educational institution and not linked to any particular community.

Leaving the Janata Party in 1980, he/she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanpur on the Congress Party ticket and soon came into the notice of the Congress high command. his/her work as Minister of State for Home, Energy, Corporate Affairs was appreciated. On April 23, 1985, the Supreme Court made a provision for maintenance after divorce for Muslim women in the Shah Bano case.

This decision was strongly opposed by Muslim religious leaders, due to which the then Rajiv Gandhi government passed the ‘Muslim Women Act 1986’. Earlier, on 23 August 1985, in the Lok Sabha, Arif fiercely defended the decision of the Supreme Court. his/her speech was highly praised in the media. Later, Arif Mohammad Khan publicly told in an interview that Rajiv Gandhi himself had asked him/her to support the decision of the Supreme Court in the Parliament.

opposition started increasing
The opposition of Muslim religious leaders in the country against the decision of the Supreme Court increased. Many members of Rajiv Gandhi’s cabinet were also against this decision. They were terming it as interference in Shariat and anti-Islam. At that time Syed Shahabuddin was speaking openly against the decision of the Supreme Court. he/she emerged as the biggest spokesperson of the opponents. he/she formed an organization named Muslim Personal Law Board and started organizing movements in all major cities. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi accepted the demands of the Personal Law Board and presented Congress’s changed stand by fielding another minister, Zia ur Rehman Ansari, amid the debate in the Lok Sabha. Arif considered this against social reform and justice and resigned from the post of minister.

Dissatisfaction against Rajiv Gandhi was increasing in the government and the party. The year 1987 became politically important. VP Singh was continuously touching the peak of popularity by making allegations of corruption against the Rajiv Gandhi government. Meanwhile, the Haryana Assembly elections brought the Congress party to its lowest score. The party had to be satisfied with only 5 seats out of 90. Chaudhary Devi Lal became the Chief Minister and also the head of the anti-Congress campaign at the national level. Meanwhile, VP Singh along with more than half a dozen of his/her senior colleagues left the Congress Party and formed Jan Morcha in October 1987.

Prominent among those who left the party along with VP Singh were Arun Nehru, Arif Mohammad Khan, Satyapal Malik etc. Devilal was waiting for such an opportunity. he/she presented VP Singh as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the meetings. However, senior leaders like Chandrashekhar and Bahuguna were not in favor of it. But regarding the Bofors cannon scam, VP Singh became the focal point of the anti-corruption campaign and lakhs of people started gathering in his/her meetings. he/she got support from everyone from BJP to leftist parties.

Allahabad by-election
Meanwhile, the schedule for the 1988 Allahabad Lok Sabha by-election was announced. The seat became vacant due to the resignation of Amitabh Bachchan. Initially VP Singh was not in favor of his/her candidature in this by-election. he/she had personal relations with Lal Bahadur Shastri family and Shastri’s son Sunil Shastri became the Congress candidate. Under pressure from Devi Lal and other colleagues, he/she decided to contest the elections. This election started taking the form of a movement. But VP Singh also made the same mistake as Rajiv Gandhi when he/she invited Syed Shahabuddin for Allahabad elections instead of Arif Mohammad Khan so that there was no division in Muslim votes.

Arif Mohammad Khan was pained by this and refused to go to the elections. VP Singh was victorious in the by-election, but failed to win the trust of Jan Morcha. Later he/she went to the residence of Arif Mohammad Khan and expressed regret and apologized to him/her. After that both of them got together again.

Share on:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *