I am deeply saddened by the passing away of Arjun Singh. His death is a loss not only to the Congress, Madhya Pradesh and Parliament, but also to the country.
He had a first-rate political temperament. He would express his political differences in a cool manner and with strong conviction. He never raised his voice except on a very rare occasion.
I was his colleague in UPA1 and we were together in the Tiwari Congress in the 1990s. He had fundamental differences with the then PM PV Narasimha Rao. He did not like the obsession with the eight per cent growth and nine per cent growth when there was poverty all around. He was a Nehruvian politician.
Arjun Singh was unflappable. He was not shaken by the fact that the party had ignored him and pushed him to the margins in recent times. He dealt with the political ups and downs in a cool manner.
He was an avid reader. But he never made a song and dance about his love for books like many others.
(As told to Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr)
