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'Young MPs of India disappointing lot'
Ailing ex-Premier Chandra Shekhar talks to Lalit Jha in his first-ever interview to media in recent times.
Considered to be a progressive and revolutionary leader in his youth and known for raising people's issues, former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar has expressed his "deep disappointment" with the performance of the current lot of young Members of Parliament (MPs).
Now 79, Chandra Shekhar is being treated for multiple myeloma (cancer of plasma cell) at the famous St Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York since July 8. Doctors say the disease is incurable but treatable, which only helps patients live longer.
In his first-ever interview to any media organisation during his stay in New York, Chandra Shekhar said: "Performance of the young Members of Parliament has come as a big disappointment to me."
Spending most of the time in his suit on the 31st floor of The Waldorf Towers in Manhatton, Chandra Shekhar said: "The young MPs are well-educated. But they seem to be totally unaware of the problems being faced by the people."
Otherwise, they could have raised the issues of concern of the public, he observed. Had they been sensitive to the problems of the masses, they would have raised these issues in the Parliament, he said.
The former Prime Minister said he had high expectations from these young lawmakers after the last Lok Sabha elections, as he believed that they were well aware with ground realities of the world, besides being energetic and highly qualified.
Prominent among the young parliamentarians are Rahul Gandhi (35), Jyotiraditya Scindia (34), Ajay Maken (41), Naveen Jindal (35), Sandeep Dikshit (41), Kuldeep Bishnoi (37) from the ruling Congress Party.
Among others include Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (36) from CPI (M), Akhilesh Yadav (32) from Samajwadi Party, Omar Abdullah (35) of the National Conference, Asaduddin Owaisi (36) from AIMIM, Mehbooba Mufti from People's Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janta Party's Aditya Nath (33) and Dushyant Singh (32).
"But their performance so far has been unimpressive," Chandra Shekhar said, without naming anybody.
While fighting the dreaded disease, the former Prime Minister spends most of his time with his family members — sons and daughters-in-law, and close friends, and reading books.
"I have started reading Gandhi," Chandrashekhar said. Among the three prominent books that he has read while in New York are A week with Gandhi by Louis Fischer, That Strange Little Brown Man by Frederick B Fisher and Gandhi Truth by Erick H Erickson.
"He (Gandhi) is more relevant than ever," he observed. "I miss newspapers a lot," he said. The Government of India has made special arrangement to send all major news headlines to him through fax.
Overlooking India's development after the Independence in 1947, Chandra Shekhar said that there is no denying the fact that the country has progressed in many areas. "But we could have done much better, had we not fought among ourselves. We (politicians) have always indulged in unnecessary quarrel and fights," he pointed out.
At the same time, he said the Indian political leadership, despite bitter differences have continued with some basic and fundamental aspect of governance for the country. "The governments have come and gone, but these principles remain the same. Manmohan Singh is also trying to follow the same path," he said.
In a 30-minute interview, the former PM said even after 58 years of Independence the country was still facing the problem of unemployment, poverty and illiteracy. "We do not have access to safe drinking water, a large number of children are malnourished. Mother Nature has given us a lot, we need to utilise it properly," he said.
"Unemployment and poverty should be our priorities," he said.
Making his observations on functioning of the Congress-led coalition of United Progressive Alliance, Chandra Shekhar appreciated the performance of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
"Manmohan Singh has a good grip on economic matters. He is trying his best to improve the situation," he said.
