Cong to take Centre head-on

A direct confrontation between the Government and the Congress is now in the offing within days of the new Lok Sabha8217;s constitution and even before Parliament has met to conduct official business. With other Opposition parties including the Left, unclear on their approach to the Bofors chargesheet, the Congress may not go to the extent of stallingproceedings in Parliament but its bonhomie with the Centre seems over even before it began in earnest.

However, in a stand somewhat similar to that of the Congress, the CPI-M, in its reaction to the Bofors chargesheet on Saturday, asserted that the 8220;chargesheet had been filed before the final set of Bofors papers have been received from the Swiss authorities8221; and added that 8220;the Hindujas who are close to the present regime have tried everything to block release of the papers to India.8221;

The Congress party8217;s strategy to counter Bofors was hammered out on Saturday at the second session of the Congress Working Committee CWC, which had originally been convened to discuss the reasons for the party8217;s worst-ever electoral debacle.

A strongly worded statement issued soon after the end of the meeting warned the Government that 8220;this act of maligning and vilifying Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress party will not be tolerated by millions of Congressmen throughout the country.8221;

8220;With no evidence tosubstantiate the charge against Rajiv Gandhi, the name of the former Prime Minister has been dragged in. This smacks of political vendetta,8221; the statement said.

Party sources said that the unanimous opinion among the CWC members was that the party had to counter the political ramifications of the chargesheet in an aggressive manner and take the government head-on. Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal was specially summoned to the CWC meet on Saturday to brief Sonia and other members on the legal fallouts of the chargesheet.

The general feeling among CWC members, after the chargesheet8217;s perusal, was that it contained precious little to implicate Rajiv and that the party should go on the offensive and project it as a case of political witch hunt by the government.

That the party has been unnerved by the re-emergence of the Bofors ghost was clear from the fact that it fielded a five-man team comprising senior leaders Manmohan Singh, A K Antony, Rajesh Pilot and party spokespersons Kapil Sibal and Ajit Jogi toaddress Saturday8217;s media briefing. The signal from Sonia was that it should be made clear that she along with the party was prepared to take the fight to the enemy8217;s camp.

Sibal, who was especially roped in to put up the party8217;s legal defence on the chargesheet, told reporters that the political motive behind the chargesheet could be seen from the fact that it has been filed before the arrival of the sixth and final set of documents from Sweden which are expected to contain the names of other recipients of the alleged kickbacks. Referring to the implication of Rajiv in the chargesheet, Sibal said there was no evidence against the former Prime Minister. 8220;The only statement made in the chargesheet is that an alleged conspiracy was hatched by Rajiv Gandhi and others between 1982 and 19878230;The government should have been more circumspect,8221; he said.