Within an hour of the high-profile meeting between Defence Minister George Fernandes and HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, the Samata Party today called a press conference and said the reputation of a ‘‘towering personality’’ like Fernandes was being besmirched by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.Their complaint: here was a man who shouldered so much responsibility for his party, for almost all NDA allies and was compelled to intervene in many tricky political situations (they could have been alluding to this afternoon’s meeting between Joshi and their boss) and still the Congress tried to drag him into a near-obsolete coffin scam.And all this anger against the Congress exploded in a small austere room at the second floor party office in VP House. Reclining on a wooden chair, spokesperson Shiv Kumar’s voice took on a serious tone. ‘‘Soniaji has been campaigning all over Rajasthan. Wherever she is addressing an audience, she is beginning and ending her speeches with the coffin scam.’’‘‘This is a serious defence issue. Such an accusation can never be made without definite proof by any responsible politician, let alone by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. She should know such an issue, when raised without reason, can affect the morale of the jawans and compromise the country’s security.’’Raising three fingers, he said he had three questions for Sonia. ‘‘First, if there was an illegal deal, when and where was the deal signed? Second, if there was such a deal, who are the people who made money and how much did they make? And third, how can the Defence Minister be subject to such an onslaught without an iota of proof being proffered?’’ Then came the threat, ‘‘We demand that she make all the evidence she has on the scam public immediately.’’ In conclusion, he fell back on the ploy of personal attack. ‘‘We all know her past. How she had broken the laws when she had not yet become an Indian citizen. She was involved in unconstitutional activities and took advantage of having taken up residence in the house of the then prime minister.’’
