All But The Pm's Men

 Consequently, the hawala avalanche on February 22 claimed 14 more politicians. Among those charge sheeted were four Union ministers—R.K. Dhawan, Buta Singh, Kamal Nath and Arvind Netam and former Delhi chief minister, Madan Lal Khurana. In all, 24 politicians have been booked. This figure is likely to go up, as there is talk of fresh charge sheets. Moreover, the resignation of the governors of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala—Motilal Vora and P. Shiv Shankar—who figure in the Jaindiary is also on the cards.

 But despite moving against top politicians and bureaucrats, the CBI has been careful not to bring the Prime Minister into the ambit of its investigations. Given the Supreme Court's stern stand in the hawala case, the CBI intimated vaguely to the court that no case could be made against the Prime Minister though his name had come up in the course of the interrogation of S.K.Jain, the key hawala accused.

 The Supreme Court's directive to the investigating agency not to close the case against Rao will be taken full advantage of by the Opposition in Parliament when it meets for the last time before the general elections. Why the CBI is not investigating the Prime Minister is a point that many Opposition leaders have already raised in the press.

 In a parallel development, the Delhi High Court's order to the CBI to probe the allegation that Jharkhand MP Suraj Mandal had been paid off by the Congress to secure his support for the Rao Government during a no-trust vote in the Lok Sabha in July 1993, has further eroded Rao's moral authority as he was the main beneficiary of the alleged deal with Mandal. "We have to fight corruption, but the fact that the Prime Minister woke up to fight it at the fag end of his tenure shows his sincerity and motive," said former prime minister Chandra Shekhar.

 In fact, all parties have been affected by the ongoing probe into the hawala case. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose cleaner-than-thou image has suffered a setback, has decided to fight the "politically motivated use of the CBI against its (the Government's) political rivals". But it is not quite sure how to go about it. Party Chief L.K. Advani announced yet another month-long countrywide rathyatra to be flagged off on March 9 from Ernakulam, Kerala, just before the general elections. However, he made it clear before the 150-member National Executive that the rathyatra was not intended as a response to the hawala chargesheet against the BJP. "They all know it is a frame-up to unsuccessfully deprive us of our electoral plank for clean public life," he said. But the degree of demoralisation in the wake of the Supreme Court's rejection of Advani's petition demanding day-to-day hearing of the case was visible at the venue of the meeting of the National Executive at the Parliament annexe. At the meeting which was apparently intended to boost the morale of the party leaders, Rajbir Singh, a National Executive member, pointed out: "The workers are jubilant. Only the leaders seem to be demoralised. You must get up and lead".

 It is not the BJP alone which feels that the CBI is being used selectively against political opponents of the Prime Minister. Says Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, former general secretary of the Congress (T): "Rao is using the CBI to further his political interests to the hilt. But I am hopeful of justice prevailing in the end."

 Having earlier charge sheeted potential rivals of Rao, such as BJP chief L.K. Advani, Congress (T) leader Arjun Singh and Madhavrao Scindia, the CBI has now targeted N.D. Tiwari, timing its charge sheeting with the unity attempt launched by a growing number of dissidents in the Congress. The initiative taken by Industries Minister K. Karunakaran, Balram Jakhar, Rajesh Pilot, Ahmed Patel and Jitendra Prasada favours the Tiwari faction getting back into the parent party despite Rao not liking it. But unity efforts have been virtually derailed with the tainting of Tiwari's image.

 All this seems to be working to Rao's advantage at the moment. With the judgement in the hawala case likely to take time, going by the normal course of justice, Rao can continue to use the CBI to his political advantage. He has even been able to extract statements from hawala-tainted ministers like Kamal Nath and Arvind Netam, on the eve of their resignation, that they did not doubt the sincerity of the Prime Minister in getting to the bottom of the hawala case.

 What in fact had transpired was that the Prime Minister got Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh to persuade Nath and Netam, who both hail from his state, to resign on the assurance that "their resignation will not disqualify them from contesting the Lok Sabha elections".

 However, R.K. Dhawan, who S.K. Jain alleged had taken him to Rao's residence to make a pay-off, refused to give a clean chit to the Prime Minister. Of course, Dhawan ultimately resigned, but after much reluctance.

 Also, there is a lurking fear that a few like Pilot have been spared at the moment only to be booked later under violation of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) as he has already acknowledged having taken money from the Jains but at a time when he was not a public servant.

 Pilot is seen as a likely target in the future since the minister has been very strident in his criticism of some of the actions taken by the Rao Government. He is also seen as supportive of the dissident faction in the Congress.

 By charge sheeting in phases, the CBI seems to have served the Prime Minister's political interest as it could otherwise have resulted in an organised revolt within the party which is probably why Pilot and Pranab Mukherjee are being spared for the moment.

The CBI has also been careful not to charge sheet Dhawan for the payment he allegedly received from the Jains after Rao succeeded Rajiv Gandhi as the Congress president. The charge sheet limits itself to the alleged Rs 50 lakh payment Dhawan had received from the Jains sometime in 1989 when he was Officer on Special Duty to Rajiv Gandhi. Union Minister of Petroleum, Satish Sharma, another major hawala beneficiary, has also been left out.

 POINTS out a Congress working committee (CWC) member supportive of the unity move mooted by the Congress dissidents: "Certainly there is a pattern in those being included and excluded from being charge sheeted. How else do you explain the CBI attempting to shield Haryana Chief Minister Bhajan Lal? He had quelled the first organised revolt against the Prime Minister at the Surajkund Congress in March 1993 when the Prime Minister faced the dissidents led by Arjun Singh demanding implementation of the one-man-one post formula in the party."

 The revolt might be more intense this time if the demand for a working committee is conceded. Consequently, while Karunakaran continues his efforts for unity and pressurises Rao to hold a meeting of the CWC, Rao has made it a point to ignore him. For the Prime Minister, success lies in isolating the CWC to the point of redundance on the plea that the more important job of the hour is to establish direct contact with the state and district level leaders. Party General Secretary Janardhan Poojary has called a meeting of about 500 district committee presidents of the party in Delhi for a two-day jamboree beginning March 10. This is around the time when the notification for the Parliament elections is expected.

 Points out a party general secretary and an ardent Rao supporter: "Just watch out, Rao might leave the selection of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha election to the DCCs and refer the list for endorsement by the PCCs and the Central leadership. The CWC will be worth nothing in that case." It appears that for Rao decentralisation is more of a tactic than a commitment.

 With the Election Commission now putting a ban on ruling parties at the Centre and states from announcing new welfare measures, Rao still has a message to give through the DCCs: that he stands for a clean public life, and that he has not hesitated to take action against his own followers in the process.

  Aware that Rao might push the entire CWC and senior leaders into oblivion, Karunakaran and Jakhar have got in touch with R.K. Dhawan, also an elected CWC member, who is of the view that "Rao did not defend him though he could have".

 Rao has also made it a point not to show any mercy to those who had once opposedhim like C.K. Jaffer Sharief and Kalpnath Rai. "We know this and we are not going to let him off this time. We might even join hands with the Opposition in cornering Rao in Parliament," says a senior Congress Lok Sabha member from Rajasthan. He also pins hope on the Supreme Court. "The court will get enough evidence of Rao's connection with the underworld. Just wait for the comprehensive petition against Chandraswami and the St Kitts documents (which is being filed shortly)," he adds.

 For the dissidents, the concluding session of the 10th Lok Sabha is the last opportunity at hand. "We will respond to the situation in the manner it demands," says Jakhar. But knowledgeable sources in the dissident camp are still watching Sharad Pawar, who has supported the demand for a CWC meeting but has not yet indicated how far he will go against Rao. The Prime Minister has given a sop to Pawar's latest ally, Ghulam Nabi Azad, by giving him the additional charge of parliamentary affairs.

 Nevertheless, the present threat to Rao's leadership seems to be serious. The only factor that favours him is the 'timing' of such a threat as it comes just when he is about to complete his five-year tenure. At the moment his primary concern seems to be not another cleansing operation but defending himself at any cost. Any positive fall-out of the investigations would only be incidental.