From 8216;intellectually weak8217; Soni to 8216;braggadocio8217; Kamal Nath

Sanjay Gandhi replaced pro-Soviet P R Dasmunsi with intellectually weak Ambika Soni

A cable sent on November 14,1975,titled Sanjay Gandhi asserts influence over Youth Congress,described then Youth Congress president Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi as pro-Soviet and leftist. It said Dasmunsis position was undermined by Sanjay,and his immediate subordinate,Ambika Soni,then 35,was made the president. Soni is an attractive,well-educated,outspoken but intellectually weak personality who has been working in the AICC bureaucracy since 1969, the cable said.

It said Soni was a protege of Indira Gandhi,with informal access to the household something Dasmunshi did not enjoy who could be counted on to carry out its instructions. She is an ideological will-of-the-wisp,blowing with the prevailing wind. Married to an Indian Foreign Service officer,she has been the subject of considerable gossip in the last few years on alleged extra-marital arrangements with a GOI government of India minister, the cable said.

Former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur sought diplomatic asylum

On March 15,1976,a cable from the US embassy in Dhaka said that a man who identified himself as Suroshao Dutta,an advocate from Calcutta and a follower of J P Narayan,visited the embassys political section to request diplomatic asylum for former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur. Dutta claims that Thakur is absconding and could be brought to Bangladesh so that he could enlighten the US embassy on what is happening in India. Dutta said that it was impossible to approach the foreign embassies in India and thus he had come to Dhaka to see us, said the cable.

The cable said the political officer told Dutta what he was suggesting was inappropriate and the embassy could not be of assistance to him. When Dutta began to explain that it was the Soviets who really decided what happened in India and that it was in our interest to understand what was happening there,the political officer told Dutta that the US government had its diplomatic mission in India which followed events there and that,in any event,it would not be proper for this mission to comment upon the internal political affairs of India.

Dutta requested that his visit be kept secret. Stating that the conversation lasted less than 10 minutes,the cable said,emboff embassy official did not wish to prolong conversation in order not to give Dutta any false encouragement.

Kamal Nath said India planning more n-test

A cable sent on November 29,1976,said Kamal Nath,businessman and Sanjay Gandhis confidant in West Bengal,told the consul general on November 25 that India is making two more atomic bombs and has plans for one more peaceful explosion. The consul general noted that Nath speaks with such brashness,boastfulness,and at times naive simplicity that one tends to discount it all.

The cable,however,noted that Nath is close to Sanjay Gandhi,and does act for the latter in many capacities. The US consul general reported that Nath is well-informed on a number of subjects,and his professions of friendship for the United States are sincere. However,he added that the nuclear report may be just so much braggadocio on Naths part,but cautioned that although Nath may take delight in giving the impression that he is privy even to sensitive information about Indias nuclear program,we should not conclude that he merely conjured up the report.

Kamal Nath only spoke in general terms of plans for another explosion and offered no hint of a time frame in which this might occur,even assuming that he has some basis for his comments,the cable concluded.

N-test to dispel general domestic gloom

With India exploding a nuclear device in 1974,which caught the Americans by surprise,the US had concluded that the general domestic gloom and uncertainty were key to Indias decision on a nuclear test.

A US embassy cable sent on May 18,1974,shortly after the test,titled Indiaa nuclear explosion: why now?,said: India has exploded a nuclear device at a time when India is in deep economic difficulty and the government is contending with a rising tide of disillusionment and discontent. Corruption,mismanagement,labor indiscipline,rampant inflation,food shortages,and the impact of the high cost of crude have led to dismal economic performance and severe political unrest. The turmoil earlier this year in Gujarat and then Bihar,scattered small-scale violence,and the current rail strike have confronted the government with a series of crises in maintaining political and economic discipline.

The cable added: We are inclined to believe that this general domestic gloom and uncertainty weighed significantly in the balance of indias nuclear decision. The need for a psychological boost,the hope of re-creating the atmosphere of exhilaration and nationalism that swept the country after 1971 contrary to our earlier expectation may have tipped the scales.

Sonia Gandhi co-owner of Maruti

On August 27,1976,a US embassy cable noted that Sonia Gandhi is one of the owners of Maruti Heavy Vehicles Private Ltd,referring to her as Sanjay Gandhis sister-in-law. The cable also said that K L Jalan,managing director of Maruti Heavy Vehicles,had requested embassy assistance in arranging a meeting with the president or high-level official of Cessna Aircraft Company to discuss the sale of Cessna aircraft in India.

According to Jalan,Maruti Heavy Vehicles Ltd. is owned by Sanjay Gandhi son of prime minister,Sonia Gandhi Sanjays sister-in-law and J K Jalan. He said that among others,the firm currently represents International Harvester and subsidiaries of ITT based in Italy,Sweden and West Germany Standard Electric and at least two West Germany companies. Embassy has also heard unconfirmed rumors that Maruti also represents BAC, said the cable.

The cable said the company was set up originally by Sanjay Gandhi to manufacture the Maruti car designed by him. To date 40 prototype vehicles have been produced. The firm also assembles buses from the chassis on up with production to reach about 1200 in 1976-77 according to Jalan, the cable said.

According to the cable,Jalan assured emboff embassy official during his visit to the Maruti factory that his firm has an immediate sale demand for two aircraft with a very promising outlook for 20 more units by the end of March 1977 fiscal year. He requested that Cessnas official make a special trip to India in the next 10 days to discuss financial details.

Jalan pointed out that Cessnas agent in India,Khaon Gata in Bombay,had sold only one aircraft in the past 10 years. He said the agent recently lost the sale of two aircraft because he was unable to resolve some problems,which he did not specify,with the Indian government.