New Delhi, August 25
While Uma Bharti is busy draping herself in the Tiranga former Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna is facing the music in the Congress.
Sources say Congress President, Sonia Gandhi has expressed “serious displeasure’’ about the fact that Krishna had not even bothered to tell the party when after a telephone call from then Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani he decided to withdraw the cases against Bharti.
Ms Gandhi is learnt to have conveyed this to Krishna and sources say this cooperative attitude towards the BJP while he was in office will cost him dearly in the Congress. The knives are out and a formal explanation is likely to be sought, say sources.
While Bharti portrays herself as a martyr and the BJP tries to draw political mileage out of her surrender, the facts of the case are somewhat different. Documents available with the Tribune reveal that in fact Bharti in 1994 had been charged with attempt to murder, rioting with deadly weapons, and assault on public servants on duty. The police had to open fire in order to quell the mob and four persons died on the spot. Another person died later in hospital.
Between, 1995 and 2004 the judge had issued summons and bailable and non-bailable warrants against Bharti. Interestingly, following a phone call from Advani the state government in 2002 decided to withdraw the case but the judge refused to give his consent.
The state government then filed a revision petition before the Sessions Court which in 2004 refused to withdraw the case against Bharti.
Following Punjab CM Amarinder Singh’s intransigence on the SYL canal issue and the Manipur mess created by the Congress CM , Sonia Gandhi seems determined to make an example out of Krishna. Since he holds no official post disciplinary, action is difficult but Gandhi, sources say, is appalled at the lack of any political fight to the BJP.
Sources say that after the Congress party attributed motives to Union Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh’s attack on the RSS, Sonia Gandhi stepped in and defended him saying that battling the Sangh should be an article of faith in the Congress. The lack of political intelligence among her close aides and members of the party hob-nobbing with the BJP also concerns her.
The result of this resolve is the “no-compromise’’ stand on the Veer Savarkar issue with Mani Shankar Aiyar refusing to back down despite, the political fallout in
Maharashtra.
