By IANS,
Bhopal: A political adversary undoubtedly — but veteran Congress leader Arjun Singh had a lot of admirers in the Bharatiya Janata Party who termed his death a personal loss and admitted to learning the art of politics from him.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan cancelled celebrations of his 53rd birthday Saturday, and declared a three-day state mourning for the three-time chief minister, who died in New Delhi Friday.
State BJP chief Prabhat Jha went to the Congress office and participated in a memorial function.
Former chief ministers Uma Bharti, Babulal Gaur and Kailash Chander Joshi termed Arjun Singh’s death as “a personal loss”.
“Personally, I consider Arjun Singh like my father and I have learnt a lot politically from him. How to respect the opposition? How to face ups and downs in political career? Because of all these, he was a legendary politician of India. At this time of grief, I am with his family,” said Uma Bharti.
Guar, who is now the urban development minister, said: “It is my personal loss. He was a national leader, an able administrator and my friend. He has given a lot to Madhya Pradesh in the field of education.”
Joshi said that despite their differences, Arjun Singh was always polite to him. “Even after my differences with him on Churhat lottery issue, whenever he met me, it was with warmth. He respected public feeling and sorted out several issues very sensibly. The impact of his death will affect the state for a long time,” said Joshi, currently an MP.
Political observers acknowledge the respect BJP leaders gave Arjun Singh.
“Arjun Singh had good relations with several BJP leaders. Once Babulal Gaur had publicly admitted in a function that he had won his first election because of Arjun Singh. Uma Bharti never said anything against him in her political career,” senior journalist N.D. Sharma told IANS.
Close aide Akbar Mohammad Khan, who was with Arjun Singh for 28 years, told IANS: “He was a mature and sensible leader. Every political leader, whether in Delhi or in Madhya Pradesh has learnt from him. He was himself a university of politics.”