This Article is From Apr 06, 2009

Daughter denied ticket, but Arjun Singh stays loyal

New Delhi:

As his daughter turned a Congress rebel contesting the Sidhi Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Saturday said he would campaign against her, but made it clear that he was unhappy over denial of tickets to his kin.

Singh said he cannot say he was not unhappy over the denial of tickets to his daughter Beena Singh from Sidhi and son Ajeya Singh from Satna.

He, however, maintained that the allocation of tickets was the prerogative of the party leadership.

"I will campaign for Congress nominee in both Satna and Sidhi," he told reporters.

"If I say I am not unhappy, then it will not be true," he said in reply to a volley of questions including whether he was not hurt over the denial of nominations given his long service to the party.

Singh also said he would be campaigning in Uttar Pradesh and dismissed suggestions that the BJP would be able to polarise the situation in the Hindi heartland taking advantage of Varun Gandhi's controversial remarks which, he said, were "unfortunate".

"Now that time has gone", Singh said striking a note of resignation when told that at a time when leaders like him should be Prime Ministers, the name of leaders like Sharad Pawar was coming up for a PM candidate.

At the same time, he regretted that there was not much debate or discussion in the party on ideological issues to throw up spontaneous solutions.

Replying to another query, he said he would accept whatever responsibility Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assigns him after the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh, a keen observer of the electoral scene, felt a "very strong undercurrent" is flowing in the country that there should be a stable government.

He sought to dismiss suggestions that the UPA was disintegrating. "You say there is a split but Lalu Prasad says it is not. Whom should I believe".

At another point, he said, "Our allies stepped out one after another and now they feel they cannot go anywhere".

Asked whether he was being ignored by the party, Singh said "there is no reason to say so".

To a query why elections 2009 was a difficult affair than 2004, he said every successive elections would be like that.

To a question about the state of the organisation in Madhya Pradesh, he said "it is a tall order".

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