Mr. Charan Singh’s far from minor ailment and hospitalization for more than a month have not diminished his will to retain his position in the Janata party hierarchy. This much has been obvious from his and his principal lieutenant, Mr. Raj Narain’s earlier actions – his resignation on April 29 from the party’s parliamentary board and national executive in protest against the leadership’s decision to ask his protégé, the Haryana chief minister, to seek a vote of confidence from the state legislature party, Mr. Raj Narain’s public charge on May 21 that he had been bypassed in connection with the move requiring the UP chief minister to demonstrate that he continued to command a majority among the party legislators and the Home Minister’s action (May 26) in persuading the Bihar chief minister to forestall his detractors in Patna and in New Delhi by securing a vote of confidence at his own initiative. He has now chosen to take his fight a step further. Since it has long been fashionable to criticize the “capitalists and their agents” for all manner of things, not much importance need perhaps be attached to his statement warning party men against attempts “to subvert their loyalty by money and all possible means”. But he has also said that the Janata’s “poor performance” is the result of the fact that the “levers of power” in the party have been “mostly captured by those who till yesterday were proponents of the heavy industry first strategy.” The explanation for the party’s record is unconvincing but the target is clear – the party President, Mr. Chandra Shekhar, his supporters and possibly the former socialists. As if to leave no room for doubt that the issue had, indeed, been joined between the Home Minister and the party chief, Mr. Raj Narain disclosed the same day (May 29) that he had complained to the Prime Minister against the “slipshod” manner in which the party was being run and that he proposed to release the eight letters he had written to Mr. Chandra Shekhar apparently to upbraid him on a variety of subjects.
It is clearly premature to suggest that Mr. Charan Singh has firmly and finally decided to secure the office of the party president for Mr. Raj Narain or some other nominee of his. And even if he has, he may have to defer to the former Jana Sanghis whose role will be crucial and who despite their adherence to their alliance with the erstwhile BLD in the states, may not choose to pursue at the centre a course of action unacceptable to Mr. Morarji Desai as the election of Mr. Raj Narain as the party chief would in all probability be. But it appears reasonably certain that Mr. Charan Singh will push for party elections as now scheduled and that he will oppose Mr. Chandra Shekhar in case the latter is a candidate for presidentship of the Janata. This will pose a serious problem for the erstwhile socialists as well. They have not been aligned with Mr. Chandra Shekhar particularly closely. But they have made themselves thoroughly unpopular with the former Jana Sangh and Mr. Charan Singh. Needless to add, such a polarization in the Janata will suit Mrs. Gandhi only too well and explain her promise of support for Mr. Jagjivan Ram as Prime Minister.