PATNA: Indian opposition leader Rajiv Gandhi has said that he could bring about “the fall of the National Front government any day he wanted but he was not interested in such an exercise.”

Gandhi said he would not like to give an impression to the people that the Congress I was seeking to return to power through manipulation and intrigue.

“If the government fell on its own, the Congress I would seek a fresh mandate from the people,” the former premier who lost his Position in the December 89 general elections said.

Comparing the post 1977 situation during the Janata rule with the current one, Gandhi said Congress I workers had been demoralized then, but not now, Besides the party faced a split then, which was not the case now, he added.

In the 1977 general elections, the ruling Congress I led by Indira Gandhi, was dethroned for the first time when it lost to the opposition combine, Janata Party. Ridden with internal conflicts, the conglomerate soon lost people’s confidence in the midterm elections held in 1980, thus paving way for the Congress I’s return till it lost again in the last elections.

Reacting over the recent arrest of Shankaracharya, one of the five principle holy men of the majority Hindus on the temple issue at Ayodhya Gandhi said his party was in favour of status quo at the disputed site and leaving the final decision to the court.

Arrest of any religious leader was wrong and suicidal. The matter should have been sorted out through talks. When his party was in power the Shankaracharya of Puri wanted to visit Ayodhya, “but we did not allow confrontation to build up,” he said.

However the workers of Congress I Gujarat unit had joined the nationwide protest against the arrest for the same,

Gandhi said “the national front government had failed on all fronts. The Kashmir situation was all right during his time, but the problem started as soon as the front assumed power. Its policies were responsible for internationalizing the issue.”

He also suggested that “Pakistan was showing an aggressive posture as India appeared weak under the front government.

Gandhi said the NF government had not tabled the reports of the Swedish national audit bureaus and the airbus deal related despite assurances to do so,

The Janata Dal leaders swear by value based politics, but the fact was that “they were miles away from ethics or values.” If they had the courage they should place the papers before the people, the former premier alleged.

Asked whether both the Janta Daland the Congress I were trying to undermine each other’s unity, Gandhi said his party was not doing so. But if the Janata Dal people were he could assume that they would not be able to lure away even a single Congress I member.

You are the cause of everything that happens to you. Be careful what you cause.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 6, 1990