It was 1987-88 once more— except that Rajiv Gandhi’s name had been replaced by Sonia Gandhi and Natwar Singh — as the BJP hit the streets today, raising slogans: ‘‘Gali gali mein shor hai, ki Sonia, Natwar chor hain’’ and ‘‘Natwar Singh bane Natwarlal, tel dalali mein huye maalamaal.’’ Launching a ‘nationwide’ campaign for the resignation of Union External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh over his alleged involvement in Iraq’s oil-for-food scandal, the BJP seized on a TV channel report that Sonia Gandhi had also written a letter to Saddam Hussein. Addressing party workers outside the BJP’s headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road, party leaders Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Prakash Javadekar and Harshvardhan clubbed Sonia with Natwar Singh as a ‘‘chor’’ and ‘‘dalal’’. Their speeches reflected the BJP’s hope that the Volcker Committee report would provide it the same ammunition as the Bofors scam of the late 1980s, and help revive the party’s morale, in a deep slump since its defeat over 18 months ago. BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar went a step further to say: ‘‘Videshi neta hain, videshi paisa hain, inhe desh se bahar karna hain.’’ (They have a foreign leader, they take foreign funds, they should be thrown out of the country.) Naqvi not only attacked the Congress chief but also PM Manmohan Singh whom he described as ‘‘beimaan’’ (unscrupulous) and ‘‘bagula bhagat’’ (cunning) for turning a blind eye to the corruption around him. Naqvi also demanded that the government impound the passports of all those connected with the Iraqi oil payoffs, ‘‘including the passport of Sonia Gandhi’’, to prevent them from fleeing the country. Asserting that the ‘‘bugle’’ had been sounded, Naqvi said the BJP would take its campaign against the Congress ‘‘to every corner of the country’’ over the next few days. The march itself, meant to proceed from the party’s 11, Ashoka Road headquarters to Natwar Singh’s residence at Teen Murti Lane was stopped on Ashoka Road. After breaking one set of barricades, the leaders stood for a while atop the second row of barricades, burnt an burnt an effigy of Natwar Singh, but refrained from battling with the police or courting arrest.
