Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh (1931-2008), who was responsible for the introduction of quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central government institutions, will be remembered in Chennai on his 15th death anniversary (November 27). Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will unveil his statue on the Presidency College campus in the presence of former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party is viewed as an inheritor of the (Ram Manohar) Lohia legacy of political mobilisation of BCs.
V.P. Singh had a “special connection” with Tamil Nadu at least for two reasons: the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations on reservation for OBCs and the establishment of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, both of which were favoured by political parties of the State. The two events occurred in a matter of months in 1990. While the decision in the early August 1990 on the Mandal Commission’s recommendations was a sequel to the plan of dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal to hold a rally of farmers in New Delhi, the formation of the Tribunal was in response to the Supreme Court’s directive of May 1990 to set up the body in a month.
