Those blaming Rajiv Gandhi on Bhopal issue not patriotic: Congress

Reacting sharply to BJP's allegation that Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) (now defunct) chief Warren Anderson could not have left the country without former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's knowledge, Congress today said those levelling such allegation were not patriotic.

"Rajiv Gandhi or his government had nothing to do with it. It is baseless and cheap to insinuate that a prime minister, who had to sacrifice his mother just one and half month ago (before assuming his office) and then sacrificed his own life five years later for the nation's integrity, allowed somebody to escape out of the country under any pressure (from the US)," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

Tewari added, "I do not think that those who are levelling such allegations have any patriotism left in them."

His comments came a day after BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said it would be impossible to believe Anderson left the country without knowledge of then external affairs minister, a portfolio held by Gandhi.

He said there were reports that Gandhi had received a communication from then US president on ensuring a safe passage for Anderson.

Tewari said in the last 26 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy in 1984, eight governments came at the Centre and pursued the case along with many national and international NGOs.

"After this, if the country feels and rightly feels so that justice was not done, it clearly points out it was a systemic failure and it needs to be addressed. That is why the prime minister has constituted a group of ministers. We need to address the systemic failure to see what amendments are required in legal structure and how to strengthen prosecution," he said.

All India Women Congress chief Prabha Thakur in a statement strongly objected to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi seeking a reply from Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the Bhopal issue.

"Modi's move to seek a reply from Gandhi on this issue is a cheap attempt to mislead people of the country... people know that Gandhi had no connection with politics 25 years ago," she said.

They are now politicising the issue, which is like applying salt instead of balm to the wounds of the victims. People know Modi's politics of baking bread on the pyres," Thakur said.

She, however, ducked queries on whether the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Arjun Singh should break his silence on the issue.

"If Arjun Singh knows something and he speaks, what objection should I have? Why should he not speak? If you ask he will definitely speak," was her response to repeated questions on whether she would like to see Singh speak out on the issue.