UF buys time with denial
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Congress-United Front crisis seems to heading for a truce with the Union home ministry denying that it wanted to delay the tabling of the Justice Milap Chand Jain Commission report on Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in Parliament.
''Neither Home Minister Inderjit Gupta nor the Inder Kumar Gujral government tried to shield anybody or withhold submission of the report,'' the home ministry statement said this evening.
The ministry also clarified that the Centre was ''equally anxious to know the truth behind the dastardly assassination of our country's young and dynamic former prime minister''.
In straight political terms, the home ministry's denial means that the Gujral government has made an unambiguous climbdown after locking horns with the Congress on the Commission report.
While the UF government appears to have lost face by backtracking
on the controversy, the Congress, particularly its president Sitaram Kesri, seems to have gained an upper hand. For, an impression is gaining ground that Kesri's ultimatum has forced the Gujral government to backtrack.
This has come as a boon for the beleaguered Congress leadership which may now concentrate on honing its strategy to further gain advantage in the Congress-UF relations.
As for the UF government, whose constituents stoutly defended the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham following reports that it has been indicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the 'pragmatic' denial has resolved a looming crisis.
The other notable aspect of the controversy is that
the Bharatiya Janata Party, which tried to grab power at the
Centre, has to now curb its ambitions and wait for a more opportune moment.
The Congress-UF crisis, however, is far from over. The tabling of the Jain Commission report may ignite another round of confrontation with the DMK which is at the centre of the storm.
RELATED REPORT:
Kesri's ultimatum shocks UF
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UF sits on 'time-bomb'
Govt will ask Jain panel to provide evidence
Jain report will have serious implications: Congress
Jain panel interim report indicts Karunanidhi, V P Singh, Chandra Shekhar
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