RAIPUR: The Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi is a traitor said Mr. V.P. Singh, President of the Janata Dal on Wednesday while talking to newsmen at the end of his two-day trip to the Chhattisgarh region in Madhya Pradesh.
Mr., Singh said that the charges of corruption against the Prime Minister were more or less established. A more serious issue was the establishment of the charges that Mr. Rajiv Gandhi had sold the interests of the nation to foreigners, he said.
Asked why he was soft towards the MP Chief Minister, Mr. Arjun Singh, against whom there were serious allegations of corruption, Mr. V.P. Singh said he would like to go on record that the Janata Dal had demanded a thorough inquiry into the Churhat lottery scandal and stringent punishment to those found guilty.
Mr. Arun Nehru, who also addressed the press conference along with Mr. Singh, Mr. George Fernades and Mr. Ajit Singh, said when he was a Minister at the Centre he had sought details about the charges against the promoters of Churhat lottery.
The Janata Dal leaders addressed about 20 meetings in two days travelling through an area of 500 kms. They also addressed a meeting on Tuesday at Kharsia, the constituency represented by Mr. Arjun Singh; Mr. V.P. Singh alleged that Mr. Arjun Singh won the byelections in Kharsia, by rigging at Raigarh.
There was a massive response at Bilaspur where the leaders addressed their last public meeting on Tuesday night.
Mr. George Fernandes said that in the case of the submarine deal with the West German firm, the Prime Minister was guilty of allowing the Germans to sell the classified information about the submarines sold to India to the South Africans and the Germans were asking what was the price for the Indian Prime Minister’s silence.
Mr. Ajit Singh said the country was soon going to get rid of the Prime Minister whose popularity was at the lowest now.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 9, 1988
