Shastri influenced VP, says PM's kin

Shastri influenced VP, says PM's kin

By Deepak Parvatiyar

(This interview was published in The Times Of India, Bombay on 3rd December, 1989)

Bombay, December 2. "In politics, Mr. V.P.Singh has been greatly influenced by the late prime minister, Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri," said Mr. Har Baksh Singh, younger bronter of the newly-elected Prime Minister.

"It was only through Shastriji, that he (Mr. V.P.Singh) came closer to the Nehru family,"said Mr. H.S.Singh, in an interview to The Times of India here today. "Such was the impact of Mr. Shastri on him, that after the former prime minister's death, Mr.V.P.Singh opened the Shastri Seva Niketan at the Manda Kothi.

"Since his college days, Mr. V.P.Singh was the epitome of simplicity and although he belonged to the ruling class, he , alongwith his elder brother, Sant Bhakt Singh, protested against the zamindari system. He participated in the Bhoodan movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and donated all his state property to it."

The Prime Minister inherited sacrificial qualities according to Mr. H.S.Singh. He recounted an incident which left its mark on him forever. He recalled the day when he was a high school student of Uday Pratap College, Varanasi.At that time, Mr.V.P.Singh was doing his intermediate in the same college. "On a winter day he gave away the coat he was wearing to a needy person who was tottering in the cold."

The prime minister's brother fondly remembered when Mr.V.P.Singh had attended on patients in villages with utmost care. "He has an artist's intense feeling."

Since his childhood, Mr. V.P.Singh's hobbies were photography and painting and he started writing poetry when he was probably doing his B.A. "May be he began writing them earlier but we came to know about it only when he was in the final year in college," said Mr. H.B.Singh.

The Prime Minister is the third of the five sons of the king of Daiya and his two wives. At the age of five, the king of Manda adopted Mr. V.P.Singh as he had no successor.

Mr. V.P.Singh studied at Col. Brown's School, Dehradoon, and Boys' High School, Allahabad.

"Mr.V.P.Singh is a born leader," said Mr. H.B.Singh. He was the vice president of the Allahabad University students union and was the president of the Uday Pratap College students union. "His heen interest in academics led him to open the Gopal Vidyalaya Inter College in Koraon, Allahabad."

The Prime Minister's interest in science led him to take his B.Sc degree after his marriage in 1955. By that time, he had already completed his BA as well as LL.B. He did his B.Scfrom Feguson College, Poona.

Now that Mr. V.P.Singh has become the Prime Minister "aisa aadmi ghar ka nahin hota, balki saare desh ka hota hai (the Prime Minister is not limited to his house but belongs to the whole country), said Mr. H.B.Singh. "Rani Sahiba (Mrs. V.P.Singh) with her amicableness and warm hospitality will give able support to her husband in the service of the nation," he added.