CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday unveiled the first memorial for Prime Minister V P Singh, who implemented the contentious Mandal Commission report providing 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in union government jobs, at Presidency College in Chennai in the presence of former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav and Singh’s family members.
Referring to Singh as the ‘guardian of social justice’, Stalin called for the union government to take up a caste-wise census to ensure proportionate representation for the deserving. He demanded a committee of MPs from all parties be constituted to oversee the implementation of reservation at the national level. “There is inadequate representation of OBCs in the union government, its institutions and even the judiciary,” he said.
Installation of Singh’s statue big message for 2024 LS polls: Yadav
“PeoplOPLe from upper caste continue to occupy posts in the union government offices and representation of OBCs, SC/STs and minorities is meagure,” Stalin added, after unveiling the life-size statue of Singh, installed at a cost of Rs 52 lakh.
The recognition of Singh’s legacy is politically significant for the ruling DMK, a party founded on the values of social justice, especially in the run to to the parliamentary polls next year. Yadav, in fact, stressed the installation of the statue is a big message for the 2024 polls.
Stalin, who met Singh twice, paid tribute to the former PM and recalled how his father, former CM and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi wrote a poem to support Singh’s implementation of the Mandal Commission report. “If UP was Singh’s mother-state, TN was his “father-state,” Stalin said.
“I don’t wish to call you as VP Singh’s family... we are also part of the VP Singh family. We are showing our gratitude to him by installing a statue,” Stalin said. He also highlighted Singh’s role in allowing Chennai’s airport terminals to be named after former CMs Annadurai and K Kamaraj after a representation from Karunanidhi.
Stalin said he considered it his duty to install the statue of the guardian of social justice on premises of a college. “His story should be told to the students. That’s why we have erected his statue in a college,” he said. The statue is located near Karunanidhi’s memorial on Marina Beach. In his speech, Yadav hit out at those who had opposed Mandal and said the same people are now pushing for reservations for EWS. He added the challenge now is to conduct caste census.
“The path forward was guided by Dr BR Ambedkar, the Mandal Commission, Ram Manohar Lohia, and M Karunanidhi, who strived for more reservation to bring equality in society. The installation of the statue strengthens the faith in social justice and the belief of those who had elected VP Singh,” said Yadav. It was an emotional moment for Singh’s wife Sita Kumari who attended the event with her son Ajeya Singh and granddaughters Richa Manjiri Singh and Adrija Manjiri Singh.
Speaking to reporters, Ajeya said, till now, there was not a single monument or portrait of his father. “I was choking up thinking that for nearly 40 years of his life in public service, he remained unacknowledged. They tried to abuse him for implementing the Mandal Commission report,” he said. Singh said political parties had toppled the government for implementing Mandal, but asked what is the compulsion now behind the political call to implement EWS reservation.
‘First memorial’
Ajeya Singh, son of the former PM, said he was choked up at the event as till now there was no memorial recognising his father’s legacy