Caught in a Tytler spot, Cong squirms

Under attack from its Left allies for its refusal to take any action against Congress leaders indicted for the 1984 Sikh massacre in the Nan...

Under attack from its Left allies for its refusal to take any action against Congress leaders indicted for the 1984 Sikh massacre in the Nanavati Commission report, the Government today was on the defensive hinting at some sort of damage control but stopped short of spelling it out.

‘‘Kuch na kuch to hoga,’’ was the refrain from several Congress leaders but after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security late tonight, there was a growing perception that the Government had decided to take its time.

The NDA, too, ratcheted up yesterday’s criticism asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister Jagdish Tytler—the Left, diplomatically, refused to name Tytler—the Government has decided to first brace itself for the NDA-sponsored adjournment motion in Parliament.

Singh will face intense grilling particularly from Akali Dal MPs in the Lok Sabha tomorrow, his day in the Lower House.

The Congress called an emergency meeting of its Core Group to discuss the course of action attended by the Prime Minister, Sonia Gandhi, Arjun Singh, Pranab Mukherji, Shivraj Patil, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel.

While top party sources indicated that there was no immediate decision on Tytler, they, however, are keen to take the ‘‘sense’’ of Parliament before taking a decision.

Minister of State for Personnel Suresh Pachauri indicated that ‘‘corrective steps’’ could be taken on the action taken report (ATR) as the government was ‘‘aware of its responsibilities’’, sources indicated that ATR could be modified or ‘‘sent for review’’ after the House debate.

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Congress spokesman Anand Sharma, who had ruled out Tytler’s resignation yesterday, also showed signs of a climbdown: ‘‘We are a sensitive political party and assessment of the situation is a continuing process.’’

He said there should be a full discussion in Parliament and ‘‘after the debate, there could be appropriate and logical clarifications even on the ATR.’’

Said Home Minister Shivraj Patil, who held a series of meetings with top bureaucrats trying to find a way out: ‘‘Action will be taken wherever necessary and possible.’’ He did not refer to any of the political leaders named in the report, except saying the panel had given a ‘‘total clean chit’’ to Rajiv Gandhi.

There was bad news for the Congress from its Left friends too. The Left parties, moving away from their earlier guarded reaction, asked the Government today to unequivocally implement the recommendations of the Nanavati report. The CPM Politburo said the ATR was ‘‘in all respects unsatisfactory’’ and the Government had not treated even the ‘‘limited recommendations’’ of the commission seriously. The Government should ‘‘probe the involvement of others whose culpability has been indicated by the commission,’’ it said.

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The CPI central secretariat issued a statement, also making much the same point, saying prosecution should begin ‘‘wherever and against whomsoever’’ the commission spoke of ‘‘credible evidence.’’