Indians believe that one should not talk ill about a dead person but only good deeds of a person should be remembered after his/her death.  That is the reason why everyone pays respects with folded hands to a dead person even if the person is not known to them but just seen in the procession to perform last rites.

But only a historian or a journalist talks or pens the facts found. Vidya Charan Shukla (84) who passed away today had a long track in the Congress Party.  

Sanjay Gandhi conducted a boat club rally at Delhi Boad Club on 20th June 1975.  But the event was not covered by the pressmen and as a result of which the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Inder Gujral was ousted and his place was filled up with V.C.Shukla. 

For V.C.Shukla, son of Ravi Shankar Shukla a freedom fighter and the first Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Gujral's exit made an entry for him into the Congress Party and understood the reason for his predecessor's exit very well, acted with wisdom and loyalty towards the leaders pulled him into the party.  It made him have all the good port folios like Communications, Home, Defense, Finance, Planning, Information and Broadcasting, Civil Supplies, External Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources. 

During Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi, as Shukla was close to Sanjay Gandhi, virtually crippled the press by putting censoring on it for which news papers published news papers leaving a blank place in place of editorial.  Every word printed in the papers was to go through the scrutiny of the Ministry and power connections of some of the papers were cut as a precautionary measure.  At that time a local news paper in Delhi went out with a cyclostyle machine in a van distributed uncensored version for free until the persons were arrested and van was seized. 

The golden voice of Kishore Kumar was not heard on the radio for two years.  Kishore Kumar songs were the most heard numbers at that time and Akasavani was the only source of hearing in public.  As per the instructions from V.C.Shukla, Akasavani stopped playing Kishore Kumar's songs and in its place old songs that were of Mohd. Rafi were played.  Astonishingly the choice of the listeners of radio was also from old Rafi songs.  Listeners used to tune in Sri Lanka to hear Kishore Kumar during that time.  Restaurants used to attract commuters by playing Kishore Kumar's cassettes.

All the enmity with Kishore Kumar was because of his refusal to sing in the event of Congress Party at Mumbai and V.C.Shukla's endeavor to please his Congress High Command in charge Sanjay Gandhi.

May the soul of Vidya Charan Shukla rest at peace!

(AW-SriJa)