New Delhi, June 1
Buoyed by the Delhi High Court judgement in the Bofors pay-off case, the Congress today sought “an apology from those who launched a vilification campaign from position of power” against the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Party spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told mediapersons that all those who had been instrumental in the “vilification campaign” should apologise to the nation if they had a “shred of morality and decency.”
“Whoever did this...barring none,” she said when asked whether it included former Prime Minister V. P. Singh, Union Ministers S. Jaipal Reddy and Lalu Prasad Yadav and leaders of Left parties, who had campaigned on the Bofors issue.
Ms Natarajan said “unsubstantiated and baseless” campaign against Rajiv Gandhi was launched “to mislead the nation”.
“Those who had made the allegations should apologise to the nation, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her family.”
“They raked up a campaign against Rajiv Gandhi without a scrap of evidence. They spent Rs 250 crore to investigate unsubstantiated and baseless charges,” she said.
She said the Bofors campaign “was a deliberate attempt to smear the image of an exceptional leader for narrow political ends”.
“They owe an explanation for spending Rs 250 crore taxpayers’ money on political vendetta.”
Asked whether the Congress was for the CBI going in for an appeal in the Supreme Court, she said, “We are not talking about the individual case.… We believe law should take its course.”
Party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said the High Court judgement was one of the array of verdicts that vindicated the party’s stand in the Bofors case. He said accountability should be fixed for Rs 250 crore spent to investigate the case.
