Mr.

ARJUN Singh was himself the architect of the "tendu leaf policy'' as the Chi
ef Minister between 1980-85 under this policy, the entire tendu leaf trade was b
rought under cooperatives and the tendu leaf pluckers were freed from the clutch
es of middlemen and traders.
Following this initiative, the Congress had also won the 1985 State Assembly ele
ction under Mr. Singh's leadership. The BJP, which had come to power in Madhya P
radesh in 1990 riding on the "loan waiver'' plank, could not return to power for
the second term after the post-Ayodhya riots since the then BJP regime led by S
underlal Patwa had tried to change the tendu leaf policy to suit the traders' in
terests. The Arjun Singh supporters point out that the spirit of tendu leaf poli
cy now gets reflected in the Madhya Pradesh Government aiming at ensuring the tr
ibals' right over "Jal-Jungle-Jameen'' (water, forest and land).