By the 11th of June, Gandhi’s tone became more aggressive: she told Singh that if the BKD did not merge with the Congress (R), the government would be toppled in the coming month. Infractions on the part of the central government were conveniently blamed on the BKD, most notably on the matter of postponing the nationalisation of sugar factories — the Congress (R) was trying to hoodwink the peasantry whose mandate they had lost. In his letter to Gandhi dated June 16, Singh expresses shock at the insinuation in Congress quarters that he’s been paid off by mill-owners. In a statement made to the press Singh once again affirmed that a merger had been a long time hope he’d entertained for the sake of the nation, but this was never a sine qua non for the coalition. The Congress had been demanding a coordination committee to rein in the BKD, citing “extreme” measures like the ordinances on preventative detention and suspension of student unions, but Singh noted that the ordinances had been passed with the assent of the Congress and the party cannot simply wash its hands of them. The national executive of the BKD in July affirmed its decision to keep any from such a merger as it became clear Gandhi wanted it merely to stifle Charan Singh’s political rise in the state.