Differences Up Front

IRRESPECTIVE of whether former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao finally goes to jail or not, the issuance of non-bailable warrants against him in the St Kitts forgery case by a Delhi court does seem to have ensured that it will now be very difficult for Prime Minster Deve Gowda to be even seen to be helping Rao. The turmoil within the United Front ranks after Gowda’s reported nocturnal meeting with Chief Justice of India A.M. Ahmadi and Union Law Minister Ramakant Khalap’s missive to the CBI (not to oppose Rao’s bail plea in the Lakhubhai Pathak case) was just about subsiding when the St Kitts order came.

A consensus seems to have emerged in the UF that because Gowda was guilty of an overkill in what political circles had termed the ‘save-Rao campaign’, it would be very difficult for him to repeat anything of the sort. The Left parties, the regional parties and a section of the Dal are now criticising Gowda for being more interested in saving Rao than the Congress itself. The unease in the UF is also reflected in Jaipal Reddy quitting as spokesman due to the pressure on him to defend what many feel is indefensible: the pro-Rao posture and Laloo Yadav’s involvement in the animal husbandry scam. Sources point out that Gowda could have ridden out the storm if the Government had done nothing more than direct the CBI not to oppose Rao’s bail plea. The logic being that the Government could have adopted a purely legal argument to justify the missive—that Rao was not likely to flee the country and/or tamper with evidence under the full glare of public and judicial scrutiny. Another justification would be that a client (the Government in this case) had a right to direct the counsel.

In fact, Khalap is still attempting to push this line. But as a Union minister says: "The Gowda-Ahmadi meeting, however, ensures that the Government doesn’t have even one leg to stand on and the only option now, with Rao facing charges in both the St Kitts and JMM cases, is to lie low and endure the criticism." But will Gowda lie low?