Sonia spells trouble for Gujral

George Iype in New Delhi

Sonia Gandhi has put the Inder Kumar Gujral government in a tight spot by joining the Congress at a time when the Bofors case report is getting its final touches.

The Central Bureau of Investigation's findings in the controversial pay-off case are expected to be made public next week, when it may nail Rajiv Gandhi for his "cover-up" in the scandal.

Sensing this, the Sonia factor in the Congress is said to have built up considerable tension in the corridors of power in New Delhi. Political circles are agog with speculation that the longevity of the Gujral government would be threatened if the Bofors story is unravelled. For, it could irreparably strain the relations between the ruling United Front and the supporting Congress.

Some Congress leaders feel Sonia took the plunge into politics because of the impending Bofors report. One senior Congress leader from the South told Rediff On The NeT that the Bofors probe report could be the flashpoint between Gujral and Sitaram Kesri.

"If the report names Rajiv Gandhi, it will definitely antagonise the Congress as the party leadership cannot but come to the rescue of Sonia at this juncture," he pointed out.

"Bofors has once again become a pressing issue for the Congress thanks to Sonia's entry into the party," he said adding that earlier the party leadership could dismiss any adverse Bofors fallout as "the problem of 10, Janpath."

Therefore, Prime Minister Gujral finds himself in a piquant situation. He he fears his predecessor H D Deve Gowda's fate awaits him if the CBI indicts Rajiv Gandhi as the main culprit in the Bofors cover-up operations.

But the prime minister cannot hold back the Bofors probe report as it is now widely perceived that the government has virtually no executive control over the CBI's moves. Moreover, with the courts monitoring several CBI investigations including the Bofors, Gujral has so far adopted a strictly hands-off attitude towards the agency.

The CBI's decision to prosecute Janata Dal president and Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has already landed the Gujral government in a crisis.

CBI sources said that the agency will not be swayed by political considerations. In fact, the agency is vigorously pursuing the Swiss government to hand over the second bunch of bank documents in the Bofors case. The CBI received the first bunch of secret bank documents from the Swiss government on January 21 this year.

The agency has already questioned a number of politicians, former army generals and key aides of Rajiv Gandhi to unravel who influenced the late prime minister to go ahead with the defence contract with A B Bofors of Sweden.

CBI sleuths also plan to interrogate Sonia on the Gandhi family's connections with controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi, who is one of the accused in the gun scandal.

CBI hopes that the second bunch of Bofors papers, connected with the two frozen Swiss accounts, will confirm the involvement of the Hinduja family in the pay-off case.

The Hinduja brothers were amongst the appellants who contested the Indian government's demand that the secret papers should be handed over to the CBI.