Updated on Thursday, August 12, 2010, 09:39
Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: New Delhi: Amidst allegations of soft handling the Bhopal gas tragedy case, senior Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh CM Arjun Singh spoke for the first time in his defence on Wednesday.
Singh rejected allegations that he had been soft on Warren Anderson saying that he ensured that the Union Carbide CEO was arrested after the tragedy.
“I personally briefed the officers (about) the decision to arrest Anderson and the Superintendent of Police escorted him to the state guest house for detention when he landed in Bhopal a day after the tragedy,” a frail Singh read out from a statement, while remaining seated in the Rajya Sabha.
He informed the House that Anderson was “so arrogant” when he got surprised that the CM himself had not arrived to receive him. He said he had also given the orders in writing to the officials.
Singh insisted that he had to let Anderson be in state protection and let him fly out quickly because there was threat of his being lynched by Bhopal mobs. Giving for the first time his side of the story, Singh said it was "incongruous that Anderson took a state plane to leave Bhopal" but did not go into details, saying he did "not want to enlarge on these things as it would add grief and bitterness".
“I did it with a heavy heart but I had to ensure his physical safety so that trial could be carried out against him,” Singh said, adding he would do it again if he was the CM of the state now.
Anderson and two other Carbide executives were picked up by police as soon as their aircraft touched down. They were whisked away through a side gate to avoid the waiting press corps.
Singh appeared to point fingers at the late P V Narasimha Rao in the exit of Anderson. "The Chief Secretary Brahm Swaroop informed me that there have been persistent calls for granting bail to Mr Anderson from Home Ministry officials in Delhi. I told him (MP Chief Secretary) that he can do whatever he likes, but the arrest be duly recorded so that we can summon him whenever we want," said Singh who did not share a good relationship with Rao during his days as HRD Minister in Rao's Cabinet at the Centre later.
Singh said the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was on tour in Harsukh town of Hoshangabad district in the state when he initially telephoned the Prime Minister's Office.
He said he had offered to step down as chief minister when Gandhi visited Bhopal Dec 6, 1984.
"But Rajivji turned down the offer. He said providing relief to the affected should be the priority," Arjun Singh said. Rajivji did not not utter a single word in the next two days either in support of Mr Anderson or try to mitigate his problem. Attaching motive to the then Prime Minister would be a figment of imagination of persons who can see nothing constructive of a person of that stature," he said giving a clean chit to Gandhi. He also said that Rajeev’s team had reached Bhopal within hours of the accident.
Singh said he was ready to share the blame “that is due to me and will not shift it onto anyone else. I am ready to suffer the blame.”
He also said that he endorsed the government of India’s efforts at deporting Anderson from the US and all claims to victims should be cleared. He called upon the PM Manmohan Singh to pressurise President Obama when he visits India for Anderson’s extradition.
Not satisfied with Singh's version, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley said that the senior Congress leader was attributing blame on people who were not alive, neither the then Union Home Minister nor the Chief Secretary.
Jaitley said if Rajiv Gandhi had no sympathy with Anderson, then why did he listen to the Home Ministry. "His statement is concealing more".
-Agencies inputs
Arjun Singh's absolving Rajiv Gandhi cannot be any other way. He has for too long been a loyal lapdog in the menagerie that the Nehru dynasty has collected during its long rule of India. The question really is not who let Anderson off. The question is who invited him in the first place. Anderson would not have risked arriving in India at such a time unless someone had guaranteed him amnesty and that someone could not have been any other than Rajiv Gandhi. Why would Gandhi have wanted Anderson to come down to India? To strike a deal, of course. Arjun Singh was not in the loop (lapdogs rarely are) and therefore arrested Anderson, which he had to rescind after a word from Rajiv.
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