Breaking his silence over the sequence of events leading to the release of then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson just a day after his dramatic arrest for the Bhopal gas tragedy, then Madhya Pradesh CM Arjun Singh on Wednesday pointed fingers at Rao, giving a clean chit then PM Rajiv Gandhi.
While taking full credit for Anderson's arrest, Singh said the former Union Carbide chief had to be released because of persistent calls from the home ministry. Rao was home minister at the time of the gas disaster.
The former CM said Rajiv Gandhi did not utter a single word when he (Singh) told him of Anderson's arrest. Drawing a firewall around Rajiv, the senior Congressleader said, "Rajivji did not utter a single word in the next two days either in support of Anderson or try to mitigate his problem. Attaching motive to the then prime minister would be a figment of imagination of persons who can see nothing constructive about a person of that stature."
The question of who ordered Anderson's release has swirled since June when a trial convicted the accused in the Bhopal case with merely two years of jail term, bringing the spotlight back on the world's worst industrial disaster.
Singh's response did not surprise many. Though he is believed to be aggrieved at being sidelined, few expected the veteran leader, who bitterly opposed Rao during the latter's prime ministership, to point the finger at Rajiv. Rao had been blamed by his party colleague also for the Babri demolition.
BJP mocked Singh for blaming the embarrassing issue of Anderson's release on somebody who could not defend himself. Leader of Opposition in RS Arun Jaitley pointed out that Brahma Swaroop, the then chief secretary of MP whom Arjun had referred to in support of his claim about the "persistent intervention from home ministry", had also passed away.
Jaitley said the senior Congress leader was attributing blame on people who were not alive. He said if Rajiv had no sympathy for Anderson, then why did he (Singh) listen to the home ministry. "His statement is concealing more," the BJP leader said.
Singh seemed to be conscious of the perception that he may try to strike a deal with the leadership by exonerating Rajiv. "I am not seeking a bargain with anybody," he said.
The speech of the ailing leader, who spoke while seated, was heard in rapt attention and once again underlined why he is rated as one of the shrewdest minds in contemporary politics. As he denied that Rajiv had any role in Anderson's release, the former chief minister also portrayed himself as a crusader against "bara sahibs" lording over MNCs and "plundering our motherland".
In fact, on balance, his effort focused more on refurbishing his own credentials, with Singh saying he would have taken the matter to the logical culmination had Rajiv not sent him to Punjab as governor in March 1985. The Congress leader said even while he had to release Anderson because of the intervention of the home ministry led by Rao, he ensured that the matter of the arrest was recorded so that the former Union Carbide chief could be summoned to be arraigned in a court of law at the appropriate time.
However, he glossed over the awkward question of who organised the MP government plane to carry Anderson to Delhi. He termed the issue "incongruous".
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