For Alliances' Sake

WITH the February 28 home ministry directive winding up the Jain Commission probing the controversial Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the DMK-TMC combine is gearing up to work out a durable formula to back a non-BJP government at the Centre. The two Dravidian parties feel that the climate for working out an arrangement if there is a Congress-led government has already been created. "The decision not to extend the tenure of the Jain Commission must be seen in the light of the judgement given by the designated court in Chennai on January 1998 which sentenced to death the 26 accused in the Rajiv case. It cannot be seen in isolation," says Union minister of state for civil aviation and TMC leader Jayanthi Natarajan.

It was the Jain Commission's interim report and its indictment of the DMK that led to the fall of the Gujral government. The Congress had adopted a rigid stand that it would withdraw support unless the United Front dropped the DMK from the government. This time round, the Congress reaction to the winding up of the Commission has been rather muted. This, according to political observers, is an indication that the Congress high command is not too keen to rake up the issue. Interestingly, it is the BJP which has taken up the cause of the Commission and has observed that the government should have extended its term.

According to party leaders, the DMK, too, wants to put the past behind, provided it gets a clear commitment from the Congress that it would not make an issue of the DMK's involvement in the assassination, as alleged by the Jain Commission in its interim report.The fact that the Congress did not rake up the DMK's role in its election campaign is being seen in Chennai as a clear indicator that a compromise is on the cards.

It is reliably learnt that in his final report, Justice Jain will recommend a fresh probe into the foreign angle in the plot to kill Rajiv Gandhi. The Commission has time and again pointed out that it was not given enough time and assistance from the government to probe the larger plot that was hatched abroad. Sources say that many important documents related to the case were provided to the Commission as late as January 1998. The Commission claims it did not have enough time to investigate the leads from these documents.

Like its interim report, the Commission's final conclusions could also be used for political gains. Many of the depositions made by witnesses before it are of a sensitive nature and would be embarrassing to senior politicians. This is perhaps one reason why the Gujral government decided to ask Jain to go at such short notice.

With no further extension being granted, there is apprehension in some circles that if the Commission fails to submit a 'complete' final report—it has only a week to do so—with sufficient evidence, then the government might dump it, saying that no action can be taken on the basis of an incomplete document.