On February 1, 1986, the locks of the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid structure — which had remained sealed since 1949 — were opened after the local administration, nudged by the government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, assured the Faizabad district court that this would not lead to a law and order problem. The decision triggered unrest and communal riots in almost three dozen towns and cities around the country. Over the period of a year, nearly 180 people were killed. The Congress leader Vir Bahadur Singh, who was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time, was repeatedly accused of being soft on Hindu rioters — allegations that he denied as “absurd”. Following the massacres in Hashimpura and Maliana by the UP Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) on May 22-23, thousands were arrested across the state, including nearly 2,500 from Meerut alone. A shocked Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi summoned Singh to New Delhi. Following several other developments, the Chief Minister would ultimately lose his post after about a year. Surendra Singh, a politician from Ghazipur who was Minister of State in the government of Vir Bahadur Singh, told The Indian Express, “There were allegations against the PAC; however, the UP police dealt with the riots very effectively. Otherwise, the violence would have spread to more places. The Prime Minister (Rajiv) and Home Minister (Buta Singh) were angry with Vir Bahadur Singh because of the riots.” Those were difficult times for Rajiv. The Congress was fighting crises on multiple fronts, including tackling the increasingly powerful movement for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and the clash of personalities within the party. As the corruption stain on the government grew darker, V P Singh resigned from Rajiv's cabinet in April 1987, and subsequently from Rajya Sabha as well. He would contest the Lok Sabha bypoll from Allahabad the following year, and enter Parliament after defeating the Congress candidate Sunil Shastri. In UP, the Congress was badly divided between the Brahmin and Thakur factions. Rajiv had been forced to replace Narain Dutt Tiwari, a Brahmin from Kumaon, with Vir Bahadur Singh, a Thakur from Gorakhpur, in September 1985. (Singh’s son, Fateh Bahadur Singh, is now an MLA from the BJP, having been with the Congress, NCP, and BSP earlier.) In the Assembly, leaders like Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Lok Dal(B) and Kalyan Singh of the BJP attacked Singh's government over the riots. More than 35 districts across the state, including Meerut, were in the grip of communal violence. The pressure on the Chief Minister increased steadily. Rajiv’s cousin Arun Nehru, who was initially backing Singh, had turned against the Chief Minister. Before the Meerut violence, riots in Allahabad (Prayagraj) had created a rift between Singh and Amitabh Bachchan, the Prime Minister’s close friend and the Lok Sabha MP from Allahabad at the time.
