Ajit Singh using memorial ruse to retain control

Although former Union Minister Ajit Singh has finally moved out of his Government-allotted Delhi bungalow that he had clung on to, under various dubious pretexts, for months after losing his lok Sabha seat, it is clear that he is not ready to entirely forego his claim, even if that were to be through the ‘memorial route'. This has left everyone with a bad taste in the mouth. The new Government at the Centre, which has rightly insisted that the property be vacated, has had to do the dirty work of shunting out an elder politician from his decades-long home. In the process, it has risked coming across as cussed and opened itself to charges of petty political vendetta. Mr Singh's supporters, who have had to repeatedly rally in his favour, are also in an uncomfortable position. Having to pressure the Government to make an exception for their leader, who has just lost his mandate, makes them look like a bunch of sycophants rather than a group fighting for a dignified cause. The matter has also been unpleasant for the general public which has had to witness yet another ugly episode of entitlement politics. And finally, there is Mr Singh himself — he now bears the ignominy of being thrown out of his home. Had only he vacated the house on time, as per the rules, the situation would not have come to such a sorry pass. But Mr Singh is struggling for political relevance. Therefore, he was desperate to maintain his resident status in lutyens’ Delhi. Possibly, the veteran politician had calculated that if he could browbeat the new regime for a while and hold on to the bungalow till November, when he expects to return to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha route, he could continue stay on at 12 Tughlak Road for the foreseeable future. He was wrong.

But Mr Singh seems to have learnt no lesson and is continuing down a path that will only bring him more embarrassment. It is difficult to see how the authorities (even if they want to) can concede to his demand to convert the property into a memorial dedicated to his father Chaudhary Charan Singh, who had lived at 12 Tughlak Road and served as Prime Minister for less than six months. Mr Singh's argument that previously sarkari residences of some eminent leaders — Jawaharlal Nehru, lal Bahadur Shastri, Kanshi Ram — have been converted into public memorials, has little merit. Since 2000, there is an official Union Government ban on such conversions. And the ban was strengthened by a Supreme Court order on similar lines in July 2013. Moreover, Chaudhary Charan Singh already has a huge memorial in Delhi, called Kisan Ghat. An undeterred Mr Singh, however, promises to keep the tamasha going: He has floated the Chaudhary Charan Singh Smarak Banao Sangharsh Samiti; a Kisan Swabhiman rally has been planned in Meerut on October 12. And the senior Rashtriya lok Dal leader has also reached out to other political outfits such as the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United).