DMK to gun for Rajiv, Indira to ward off Jain panel fallout

Reports say the Jain Commission probing the Rajiv Gandhi assassination conspiracy, which has submitted its interim report to the Centre, has indicted the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu. But the party is not overly concerned.

Confident of sailing through the controversy arising out of the Commission's interim report, when published officially, it hopes that both the Congress and the Tamil Mannila Congress would not upset the apple-cart.

"Take it from me the Congress is trying to use the report only to upstage the ruling United Front at the Centre. It may not be keen on bringing the guilty, if any, to book. If the party gets the sops it wants, it may not pursue the case beyond a point," said a DMK source.

He, however, concedes that a lot would depend on Sonia Gandhi's perceived clout in the Congress. ''In a way, it will be a tussle between Sonia's influence and the high command's political pragmatism," the leader said.

The DMK also feels its alliance partner, the TMC, would not go the Congress way over the Jain report. "True, they will have to face some political embarrassment. But, electorally, it makes sense for them to align with us, rather than take a Congress line, if it came to that.

"With the Opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also reportedly in the Jain panel net, the DMK feels confident that no great electoral issue could be made out of the interim report in Tamil Nadu," he said.

Moreover, the Tamil voters have voted on the assassination issue twice, said the source. "They voted us out in 1991, but did not take the AIADMK's campaign seriously in 1996. The same will happen now," the DMK leader said.

According to sources close to the DMK leadership, the party may rake up the Indira Gandhi-Rajiv Gandhi connections with the LTTE, if the Congress harped too much on the DMK angle to the assassination.

''There is enough material to implicate not just the Congress, but the government as an institution, under both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, for the developments in Sri Lanka. India's role and also plans for Sri Lanka, if revealed, would be shocking.''

The DMK believes the Jain panel report has also touched upon the Centre's role in Sri Lanka. The report is said to have drawn parallels between this and terrorism in the Punjab.

The source, however, said the party will have to wait for the official report to take a stand on the DMK's alleged role in the escape of the Padmanabha killers, a year before the Rajiv Gandhi assassination.

Even if the DMK faces the music on this score, "it does not make political sense for the Congress to pull down the United Front regime".

With the DMK-TMC combine still hopeful of winning at least 30 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state -- it was a clean sweep last year -- it is in the Congress's interest not to embarrass the combine, or its TMC partner.

''We are the only regional grouping to do business with the party without great reservations, and the Congress cannot hope to form a government at the Centre, not certainly if elections are held now.''

In any case, if the DMK is cornered, it will be forced to toe the BJP line. ''The BJP, and even a section of the Janata Dal, is out to embarrass the Congress, and rake up the Bofors row all over again. Sitaram Kesri should be wise enough not to create more electoral enemies in states that matter for his party," the source said.

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Jain Commission submits interim report, but is silent on conspiracy angle