Civil Service-Breach of Norms

Ram's claim to be prime minister was patently untenable.
In retrospect it is possible to understand why Jagjivan Ram's attitude to the merger of the CFD with the Janata Party has been throughout so ambivalent. Even in his letter on the eve of the selection of the prime minister, he had talked only of eventual merger of the CFD; and as soon as it became evident that Morarji Desai would be the prime minister, even that offer was withdrawn. Despite having fought the election on a common symbol with the Janata Party, the CFD is very much a Congress organisation. It consists entirely of people who have walked over from the ruling Congress and that too in the last few weeks. In fact, m one of his earliest statements after leaving the Congress, Jagjivan Ram had claimed that the CFD was the real Congress. This no doubt continues to be his position, despite the offer ot support to the Janata Party government.