NEW DELHI: In a quiet move the Congress (1) has taken full hold of The Tribune group of newspapers based at Chandigarh The group with three newspapers The Tribune The Dainak Tribune and The Punjabi Tribune serves the north western region of India enjoys decisive influence in Punjab.
With the induction of Mrs Sarla Grewal as a trustee the group has three trustees in a house of five with strong Congress (I) leanings The other pro-Congress (I) trustees are Dr P.N. Chhutani and Mr B.K. Nehru. Dr Chhutani is the current President of The Tribune Trust. The other two trustees are MrD.K. MahaanandMrRS.Tatwar.
Mrs Grewal a Hindu Khatn woman is married to former Punjab Chief Secretary Mr S.S.Grewal. She served as Principal Secretary to Rajiv Gandhi during his crucial anti-Sikh period. She enjoyed such a great trust of the Nehru dynasty that Gandhi on her retirement and extended tenure appointed Grewal as Governor of Madhya Pradesh. She left the governor’s post only after the Janata Dal government headed by V.P Singh showed its displeasure with her pro Congress (I) ways.
Dr Chhutani himself has always been a trusted supporter of Congress (I) so much so that he faced the grave charge of professionally mishandling the late Jayaprakash Narayan’s health while he was under arrest in 1975-77 at Chandigarh. Subsequently he projected himself as a Lok Sabha candidate on behalf of the Congress (I).
Mr B.K.Nehru’s entire career as a diplomat had been at the disposal of the Nehru dynasty. His proximity to Rajiv Gandhi and Arun Nehru is quite well known. Media reports even mentioned about Nebru’s efforts to unite the estranged cousins in the interests of the Nehru dynasty. Arun tried hard but unsuccessfully to induct B.K.Nehru as Governor of Kashmir to crush the Kahmiri Muslims in 1989-90.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 15, 1991
