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Ram Jethmalani threatens PM Lucknow, April 11 “If it does not stop, I too will say something from which the
Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues will not remain unaffected,” Mr
Jethmalani told reporters here. On being pressed, he said he did not want to
break the bond of friendship (with Vajpayee), adding “let the time come”. When
asked whether he was not forthcoming because of “lack of evidence”, the
firebrand lawyer retorted: “I am not Lindstrom (the Swedish police officer,
whose statement on Bofors has created a lot of controversy). I am an Indian
citizen and subject to the law of defamation”. Mr Jethmalani said even
Lindstorm had admitted that his charges could not be proved in the Court of Law.
“It is mean. It is dirty to level such allegations against a widow whose
husband has been acquitted,” he said. Mr Jethmalani said in the 26 volumes of
the Bofors case chargesheet, the name of Sonia Gandhi had not found mention
anywhere. Accusing the BJP of adopting double standards, he said they are
ready to believe a police officer of foreign origin despite the fact that the
case was thrown out of by the court but they continue to attack the foreign
origin of Sonia Gandhi. On being pointed out that he, too, had levelled
allegations against former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the matter, he said
“Rajiv had unnecessarily allowed himself to be surrounded by doubts”. Mr
Jethmalani said the Gujarat carnage had pricked his conscience and he decided to
put before the people what he thought about those responsible for it. Mr
Jethmalani, who has claimed support of the Congress, Lok Janshakti Party and
Rashtravadi Communist Party, said the newly formed Bahujan Kisan Dal, led by the
Bhartiya Kisan Union President Mahendra Singh Tikait’s son Rakesh Tikait and
whose chairman is former Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari has pledged
support to his candidature. — PTI |
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Ravindra Jain in BJP fold New Delhi, April
11 And that was not enough. For the media personnel, the musician also
sang a Hindi song composed by him for the BJP, describing Mrs Gandhi as a
“videshi bahu”, much to the comfort of the BJP leaders. Mr Jain said he had
all along been a BJP supporter and would vigorously campaign for the party in
the elections. When a reporter asked him what he was doing at the BJP office
only days after his visit to the AICC headquarter in support of Mrs Gandhi, this
is what Mr Jain had to say: “Yahan se kab gaya tha main, jo ab aane pe achhrajh
hai, yahan sau baar gaya thaa, kyo ab gaane pe achhrajh hai (when did I leave
this place, that you are surprised now, I have sung 100 times here, so why are
you surprised now).” Union Minister and BJP candidate for the Sadar Lok Sabha
seat in Delhi Vijay Goel, who was also present at the press conference, stated
that he had known Mr Jain for years as a BJP supporter. “Before Mr Jain went
to the AICC headquarters, he came to me and told me that he has been invited by
the Congress to the party office. He also told me that he was in dilemma since
he has always supported the BJP. However, I advised him to go to the AICC and
not turn down the invitation,” Mr Goel added. Mr Jain had visited the AICC
headquarters on March 20 and praised the leadership of Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee, causing acute embarrassment to the Congress leaders. The
music director of the “Ramayana” fame praised Mr Vajpayee as “someone above
controversy” and refused to say anything against him. He was significantly
silent on Mrs Gandhi. — UNI |
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Ex-BSP leader joins Congress New Delhi, April
11 Alvi, a member of the
dissolved Lok Sabha from Amroha in UP, today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi
and expressed his desire to join the party which she immediately accepted. Mr
Alvi said his decision to join the Congress followed his failure to unite
secular forces to take on the BJP-led NDA. “I tried my level best for a
BSP-Congress tie up for the coming Lok Sabha polls on line with what we did for
the four assembly elections — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi
— but failed due to Ms Mayawati’s compulsion following the case against her in
Taj corridor issue,” Mr Alvi told reporters. — PTI |
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