NEW DELHI: The tiniest fig leaf under which prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had taken refuge in the billion dollar Bofors kickback scandal was ripped apart when a number of Indian newspapers, on Oct 31, published reports and the facsimile copies of documents linking him personally with the graft.
The report by Chitra Subramanium and N Ram of the daily Hindu was published in other newspapers after the Hindu’s editor refused to publish it, apparently under pressure from the government.
Gandhi, who has been rather unconvincingly denying his involvement since the scandal surfaced in April 1987 also suffered another important setback when Defense Minister Krishna Chander Pant refused to contest from the constituency, allotted to him by the party and lambasted Gandhi and his nonpolitical aides who exercise extra constitutional authority, for political landlordism, As the defense Minister Pant had been at the fore front of the government efforts to cover up the Bofors scandal.
Pants rebellion has raised opposition hopes of other such revolt by disgruntled party members who, according to one political observer, “will desert the sinking ship of Congress I like rats that they are.”
Other observers felt that the Congress was coming apart at its seams and there is widespread feeling that Gandhi will flee India a la Marcos or Baby Doc if he loses the elections.
A spokesman for Mr. Gandhi denied charges, saying that the Prime Minister was “not associated with or aware of any trust known as the Gandhi Trust’ and that he had never authorized any representatives to meet with anyone from companies involved in the Bofors case.
A senior legislator in the governing Congress party and a party spokesman both pointed to apparent inconsistencies in duties in the excerpt from the diary of the Bofors executive, Martin Ardbo.
Nevertheless, the lawmaker said, “the mud is likely to stick.” Indian investigative reporters have described in the last two years how millions of dollars in illegal payments were made to several companies, including one registered in
Panama, another in London and a third in Switzerland, with the apparent knowledge of the Government It is widely believed that the money was rapid to clinch the $1.4 billion sale of Bofors howitzers to India and that it was channeled through prominent businessmen to Indian officials and politicians and kept in secret accounts abroad.
The disclosures about the Bofors kickbacks have been published in the Hindu, a newspaper that said the Ardbo diary had been authenticated by Swedish police authorities.
The Government and the Congress party were shaken when Defense Minister Krishna Chandra Pant, who has been defending the Government on the Bofors deal, denounced Mr. Gandhi.
Revival of state party bossism and unwarranted interference of inexperienced’ nonpolitical coteries in decision making has been of concern to all of us for some time, he said.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 3, 1989
