The role of Arun Nehru is probably the biggest enigma of the Bofors affair, Brought into politics by Mrs Gandhi before Rajiv, Nehru soon became known as Mrs Gandhi’s wheeling dealing handyman, a role which he continued to play even after Rajiv took over, As Rajiv’s Minister for Internal Security, Nehru exercised tight control over the intelligence agencies, which he crafty used to his advantage.

His falling from Rajiv’s grace came sometime in 1985-86, probably after the Bofors deal had already been consummated, Judging from his position and his reputation for wheeling dealing, many political observers had concluded that Nehru could not have been unaware of the murky aspects of the Bofors deal. But certain circumstances point towards Arun Nehru’s involvement in the Bofors affair in a far more telling manner.

Soon after the Bofors scandal surfaced, Arun Nehru told a leading journalist investigating the affair that he was barking up the wrong tree. He told him, “I had myself looked into the Bofors deal carefully when it was signed, and I can tell you that there is no hanky-panky”. When the Audit Bureau reported that large commissions had been paid in the deal, Nehru told the JPC (Indian Express 20, 6.87) that Rajiv was not involved in the deal. He castigated the ‘opposition for leveling unverified allegations. “Possibly, they don’t know that it ‘may come back on themselves”, he added. Nehru’s remarks greatly perplexed observers since by this time he was clearly personal non grata with Rajiv, though he had not yet been expelled from the Congress party.

Nehru Meets Ardbo

Much more definite evidence is now ‘available regarding Nehru’s involvement in the murky negotiations of the Bofors deal. Documents produced before the Swedish Parliamentary Committee showed that Nehra frequently passed messages to the ‘Swedish government though the Swedish embassy in Delhi about what the Swedes should or should not do to bag the contract. On June 21,1985, nine months before the contract was finalised, Nehru called a senior Swedish embassy official, Rolf Gauffin and told him that the Sweded had chances of getting the order, but they must maintain a low profile and on no account must they mention Rajiv’s or Arun Nehru’s name in connection with the contract. Nehru also laid down a schedule for negotiations.

He said that Bofors must first sent their top man to Delhi who must have total authority to negotiate all conditions. Nehru would send a message about who the man must meet. Bofors local representative (i.e., Chaddha) must not be informed about hits and no reference must be made to Rajiv or Nehru. If this meeting was satisfactory, it could be followed by official delegations of Bofors and the Swedish government. On July 10, 1985, Nehru called Gauffin again and told him that he had met Ardbo on July 3 and that the meeting was positive. ‘Nehru told Gauffin that he had done his bit in the deal and now it was up to the Swedes. This was also immediately conveyed by Gauffin back to the Foreign Ministry in Sweden.

‘There is hardly any doubt, therefore, that Nehru participated in the contract negotiations, at least in the behind the scenes activity leading to the award of the contract to them, There is no other reason for him to have told the Swedish embassy not to mention Rajiv’s or his names in connection with the contract. And if he was unaware of the nature of the deal, why would he be telling people in mid1987 that it was clean deal and that Rajiv or his family were not involved? He had by then no reason to protect Rajiy having already fallen out with him. It seems clear that Nehru was fully in the know of the nature of the deal and for some reason did not want it to be robed further. But why would he want to bush up the scandal? Nehru was otherwise clearly out to embarrass Rajiv by that time as became clear with the episode of the Thakkar Commission report. The subsequent revelations in the Bofors affair also turned ‘out to be most embarrassing for Rajiv Gandhi. Why then did Nehru himself not Leak facts about the Bofors affair and indeed has tried all along to mislead those trying to probe the scandal?

Even as a minister in V.P.Singh govt. Which has been trying hard to get the ‘names of the persons who owned the secret ‘Swiss accounts. Nehru has struck a discordant note about this investigation. He told ‘Sunday in June 1990 (June 2430 1990) that such investigations smack of vindictiveness and he was not in favour of these FIRS. Obviously, Nehru has been protecting someone, is it himself? The evidence certainly suggest that. And the most damaging pieces of evidence from Nehru’s point of view are the nothings made by Martin Ardbo.

“Consequences For Nero”

‘Ardbo ruminated about Nehru in the context of the Bofors deal in at least four places. On May 21, 1987. Soon after the Bofors scandal surfaced and when Ardbewas plotting the cover up with Hinduja, he wrote H’s(Hindu a’s) enemies are Nero, Serge Pau Sethia, “There is little doubt that “Nero” here refers to Arun Nehru, whose hostility towards the Hinduja as was well known to those who knew either of them. It is, however, the noting’s that Ardbo made in September 1987 which are the most intriguing. On Sept 1, 1987, Ardbo wrote: “Consequences for Win, Hansson’s and Nero is not possible to predict, Palme’s involvement, if it will become known, will most likely bring the Swedish government down, Everyone is afraid that I shall tell the whole truth, “It is absolutely certain that” Win refers to Win Chadha Hanssons to G.P. Hinduja (which term Ardbo frequently used for Hinduja) and “Nero” to Nehru. ‘The very next day on Sept 2,1987, Arubo wrote: “The consequences for N one doesn’t care about, On the other hand Q involvement was a problem because of his close connection R”. Again, there seems little doubt that N here is the “Netro“Netro” referred to in the previous entry. Other references to Q and R leave little doubt that they refer to Quattro chi (the representative of the Italian company Snam Progetti in India and a close friend of Rajiv) and Rajiv. In another nothing of September 1987 (reported by Arun Shourie in Indian Express, 273.88), Ardbo wrote: “H does not care if Nero is hurt. He does not even mind if Qi’s hurt. But G must be saved at all cost.” ‘Again, Q could refer to none other than Quatrochi and no guesswork is needed to figure out who this G must be whom Hinduja wanted saved at all costs.

Nero Could Be Hurt

As discussed elsewhere, Ardbo’s nothings are not to mislead anyone, nor are they the ruminations of a madman. His references to Nehru or Mero leave no room for doubt that in Ardbho’s reckoning, Nehru could be “hurt” and face serious consequences if his role in the Bofors affair was known. And he refers to Nehru along with Chaddha and Hinduja, who are now known to have been beneficiaries as well as conduits for the Bofors pay of is. What kind of role, therefore, did Nehru play which could have serious consequences for him if it were to become known. Ardbo would hardly worry about consequences for Nehru if his role had nearly been to convey messages on behalf of Rajiv Gandhi that there should be no middlemen. Though that is what Nehru would have unbeliever it is hardly consistent with the facts detailed arbore. It seems clear that Ardbo believed that Nehru had a share in the payoff. Ardbo was one man who knew almost everything about the deal, For him to believe this must mean that either Nehru was a beneficiary or at least Nehru had given that impression to Ardbo where they met secretly on July 3,1985.

This is hardly room for doubt therefore, that whether or not he had a share in the payoff’s, Nehru was aware of and did indeed participate in negotiating the payoff, at least at some state, No other hypothesis is consistent with ether above circumstances. He was almost certainly a conspirator, if not a beneficiary of the crim.

Article extracted from this publication >> September 28, 1990