NEW DELHI, Aug 17: India’s fractious opposition parties appeared to be getting their act together on Saturday as they demanded the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani and senior minister Pramod Mahajan over a range of charges including an anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat and a sex and murder incident in which Mahajan’s name has figured.
This is not the first time however that demands have been raised for ministers to resign, and at least on one occasion the opposition did succeed in the getting the resignation of Defence Minister George Fernandes even if all too briefly. Fernandes returned soon after he quit over the Tehelka exposure on defence deals although the Congress-led opposition refuses to accept him as a government minister.
Star TV reported on Saturday that in a sharp outburst against the slew of recent allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Advani, who is also the home minister, defended not just Mahajan but also Petroleum Minister Ram Naik and Housing Minister Ananth Kumar.
Speaking at a party forum, Advani said the opposition was in no position to take up these charges.
“Let me say that the opposition has no right to take up these allegations. Ananth may have made 300 to 400 land allotments to institutions that too according to the established procedure. If some seven to eight of the beneficiaries are those with links with the BJP or RSS, then that is not a crime,” Advani said.
In the past few days, Mahajan’s name has been dragged into the murder of the Indian Express journalist Shivani Bhatnagar by the wife of the main suspect, R.K. Sharma, a senior police officer who once served in the prime minister’s office.
Ram Naik’s Petroleum Ministry has come under scrutiny over the allotment of petrol pump dealerships.
Ananth Kumar’s Urban Development Ministry has also come under a cloud over land allotments.
“Those who are attacking us on this issue are those who can’t afford to do so because they’re living in glass houses. We’re not living in glass houses,” Advani said.
In the twist to the Shivani murder mystery, Madhu Sharma, wife of prime suspect R.K. Sharma, has alleged that Mahajan is involved in the murder of the Indian Express journalist. Madhu Sharma demanded the disclosure of details about the telephone calls allegedly made by Mahajan to Shivani before her murder in January 1999.
Mahajan had a relationship with Shivani and was in regular contact with her, she claimed.
Ms Sharma said the Delhi police had been investigating the case for the last three years but had not revealed the names of those politicians with whom Shivani was in touch.
“Why was the name of my husband singled out?” she argued. She also alleged that Advani was putting pressure on investigators to “toe a particular line”.
Meanwhile, Sharma’s lawyers are all set to apply for a bail plea in the Delhi High Court. Sharma’s earlier attempts to secure anticipatory bail suffered a setback when his bail applications were dismissed by a court in Panchkula and later by a Delhi court on Aug 13.
Mahajan has denied the charge, saying his relationship with Shivani was purely on a professional basis as between a reporter and a politician. He has decided to sue Madhu Sharma as directed by the BJP. Mahajan also refuted the charge made by Madhu Sharma that the Delhi police and Home Ministry were hampering the investigation to protect some senior politicians and that he was ready to cooperate with any inquiry of the investigation. BJP has come out in support of Mahajan and ruled out his resignation.
Congress Whip Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi on Saturday demanded a reaction from the government following allegations against two senior ministers in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case. “It is not an individual’s issue but a collective one and it is for the government to react as the wife of the absconding prime accused in the murder case has alleged instigation by Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and involvement of Mahajan,” said Dasmunshi.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday demanded resignation of Advani on “moral grounds” saying he had no right to continue after the Election Commission’s observations on the situation in Gujarat.
“The commission’s observation that people in Gujarat have lost faith in local police, civil administration and politicians, is a slap on the NDA government,” Yadav told reporters in Lucknow after the conclusion of the party’s state executive meeting.
He said that Advani had strongly defended the Narendra Modi government in Gujarat and he should now resign on moral grounds after the EC’s observations.
“The EC’s decision on the polls in Gujarat had proved that the Sangh Parivar outfits would never succeed in their efforts to murder democracy,” he said.