NEW DELHI: Prime Minister with Ms. Sonia Gandhi 1s an H.D. Deve Gowda’s meeting with Shiy Sena Chief BAL Thackeray at the Mumbai residence of Amitabh Bachchan last week was essentially to settle a land deal involving the Hindujas, according to sources. Official sources said the deal involves a piece of land adjoining the Sahar International Airport in Mumbai. The Hindujas have wanted to develop a private airfield there and Shiv Sena chief BAL Thackeray is said to have some interest in the project. The land has been encroached upon by slum dwellers and the Shiv Sena wants to evict the illegal occupants. Civil Aviation Minister C.M. Ibrahim had admitted that a proposal had come from the Maharashtra Government to “rehabilitate” the slum dwellers residing in the area.
Mr. Ibrahim had called on Mr. Thackeray last month in Mumbai and there was uproar against it within the Janata Dal at that time. He was criticized for trying to open a channel with the Shiv Sena. Again, Mr. Gowda’s meeting with the Sena chief kicked up a similar ruckus in party circles. The Gowda loyalists are of the view that his meeting with the Sena Chief was aimed at creating a rift between the BJP Shiv Sena alliances in Maharashtra. The venue of the meeting Mr. Bachchan’s residence had raised eyebrows in political circles. The mega star enjoys a good rapport with the Hindujas. His rapport other significant factor. Sources close to the Prime Minister said that Mr. Deve Gowda wanted to meet the Sena Chief and Mr. Bachchan when he learnt that Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Kanshi Ram had pleaded with Congress president P.V. Narasimha Rao to withdraw support to the United Front Government before the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Sources in the Dal say that Mr. Deve Gowda decided to open channels with Ms. Sonia Gandhi. And the leader who convinced him that it would work was none other than the recently appointed Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, whose proximity with Mr. Bachchan is also well known. The sources said that Mr. Singh and Mr. Ibrahim convinced Mr. Deve Gowda that the only way to break ice with both Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Bachchan was through some financial deal in which both cold be interested. Significantly even, though Railway Minister and Dal Secretary General Ram Vilas Paswan did not accompany the Prime Minister to Mr. Bachchan’s residence, he was part of the Prime Minister’s entourage from Delhi.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 28, 1996
