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Bofors chargesheet: Congress warns of 'explosive situation'

The Congress today warned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government of an ''explosive situation'' in the country if the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's name was not deleted from the Bofors chargesheet. Thousands of party workers took out a massive rally in New Delhi today to protest against the ''politically motivated'' inclusion of Rajiv Gandhi's name as an accused in the chargesheet and said that they would not sit quietly about this insult to their departed leader's name.

The march which started from the Feroz Shah Kotla grounds culminated at the Bhagwan Das Road, where they were addressed by a galaxy of senior leaders including Congress Working Committee members, chief ministers and presidents of the pradesh Congress committees. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, however, was not present at the rally. ''An insult to Mr Rajiv Gandhi is an aspersion on the entire party. This is a fight not only of his wife and our president Sonia Gandhi but of the entire party,'' CWC member and deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha Madhav Rao Scindia said. The government cannot hope for cooperation from the Congress if it displays such petty-mindedness, Scindia said.

Charging the government with dragging Rajiv Gandhi's name as an accused in the Rs 640 million kickbacks case for political motives, the CWC member said the chargesheet did not contain a shred of prima facie evidence against the former prime minister. ''We demand that while the case be carried to its logical conclusion against the accused against whom the CBI has evidence, the name of Mr Gandhi should be deleted immediately. An explosive situation could develop in the country if the government does not concede this demand,'' he added.

Referring to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's statement yesterday that the government could not direct the Central Bureau of Investigation to delete Rajiv Gandhi's name from the chargesheet, Scindia said that there was a precedence when the Baroda dynamite case against George Fernandes was withdrawn following written instructions from the government. While the Congress was willing to cooperate with the government in the national interest, the latter should rise above such narrow and petty thinking, he added.

In a clear warning that the Congress would not cooperate with the government, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee President Girija Vyas said that ''the government should understand that they will not be able to run Parliament if they impose such black laws on us.'' Tripura unit president Gopal Rai added that if Rajiv Gandhi's name was not deleted, ''we will not only block roads but will also block the functioning of the government.''

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Salman Khurshid said the government could not wash its hands off the matter by saying that the courts would decide. When the name of an illustrious leader, who has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna, is besmirched, it was time for the people's court to decide, he added. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit accused the government of raking up the Bofors issue because Sonia Gandhi was the Congress president. ''They want to keep Mrs Gandhi in controversy. But the Congress will not remain a mute spectator. We have the strength to fight back,'' she added.

UNI

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