NEW DELHI: Indian prime minister Narasimha Rao appears to be in no mood to resign even as political opinion in the country holds him guilty of the charge of having taken Rs | crore as in the past few days which in turn endorsed what he said against the BJP but keeping virtually silent on the details of Mehta’s meeting with the prime minister and his charge of delivering Rs 1 crore bribe money to him. Meanwhile, intelligence agencies under Rao are doing their best to temper with the record showing Mehta’s meeting with the prime minister. They have also persuaded the late Satpal Mittal’s son to deny he accompanied his father and Harshad Mehta to meet the prime ministeronNov.4, 1991, as alleged by Mehta. Also, the agencies have been successful in making Mittal’s private secretary Manmohan Sharma to make a statement many days after the Mehta charges appeared in newspapers. Sharma has flatly denied the accompanied Mehta and Mittal to the prime minister’s house. Meanwhile, India’s joint parliamentary committee headed by a ruling party member Ram Niwas Mirdha has issued fresh summons to Mehta to question him in connection with the charges against the prime minister. But the committee put off the crucial issue of calling for Rao and questioning him about the Mehta charge of having received Rs 1 crore bribes. Members of the committee are said to be divided on how to handle the charge against the prime minister.
In the midst of these developments, there have been reports of behind the scenes consultations among senior Congress (I) leaders such as Arjun Singh and Sharad Pawar. They are said to be worried about the ruling party’s prospects in the forthcoming elections to four state assemblies in view of the allegations against the prime minister. I am felt that the prime minister cannot deliver the goods to the ruling party on account of his dwindled position as party’s election campaigner. Therefore, even while defending him in public, senior leaders are quickly assessing prospects of a change in change in the government’s leadership to refurbish the party’s image.
It is also significant that unlike in 1975 when Mrs.Gandhi had succeeded in selling her conspiracy theory, there are not many takers for it in non BJP parties. Thus even the CPI and the ©.P(M) which are notorious for inventing reasons to be on the side of India’s ruling establishment this time want a change in the ruling party’s leadership. This position is not, however, being shared by leaders of Janata Dal’ who want the government of the Congress(I) to go rather than doing things to mend the ruling party by changing its leader, The BJP is much too happy at the tum of events. The party is trying to capture the public imagination by giving a call against corruption.
Article extracted from this publication >> June 25, 1993
