All for the Sake of 31 Days
Al-Risala (English), July 1987, p. 24
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is named as the default author of the periodical; a piece that carries another writer’s byline is credited to that writer.
All for the Sake of 31 Days
1987 7 July 24 All for the Sake of 31 Days (353) The January 1983 elections in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh brought the Telagu Desam party, under leadership of N.T. Rama Rao, into power. On August 16, 1984, however, N.T. Rama Rao’s government was dismissed by the then governor, Mr. Ram Lal, and a Telagu Desam dissident, N.T. Bhaskara Rao, invited to form a government in alliance with the Congress party. Mr. Bhaskara Rao was given 30 days to prove his majority in the 293 member state assembly.
Mr. Bhaskara Rao’s group then made a concerted effort to win over MLA’s. According to the Hindustan Times (September 13, 1984), a price of 2 million rupees was placed on the head of each MLA. What N.T. Rama Rao did to foil him was to confine members loyal to him in his own Ramakrishna Studios. When Mr. Bhaskara Rao proved unable to prove his majority on the floor of the house within 30 days, his government became unconstitutional and was dismissed by the new stage governor Mr. S.D. Sharma. On September 16, 1984, Mr. Sharma invited N.T. Rama Rao to form a government once again.
On September 19, 1984, The Times of India published a special report on events in Andhra Pradesh, highlighting the misdemeanours of N.T. Bhaskara Rao during his short term of office. The month-long chief minister had released a state government fund of 100 crore (1000 million) rupees, and had started openly inviting members of the state assembly to “defect and be a minister.” The writer continues:
During his 31-day, uncertain career as chief minister, Mr. Bhaskara Rao behaved and acted as if he had come to stay for a hundred years.
This is an apt description of the way everyone acts in this world. One is only in the world for a short period; it might only be for a 31 day spell. Yet people act as if they have come to the world to stay. How extraordinary it is that man should come into the world and live here as if he were never going to leave; yet departure from this world is inevitable, and comes sooner than he plans.
