> Title : Moral victory > Author : Dina Nath Mishra > Publication : The Observer > Date : April 21, 1997 > > Nobody believed in CBI charges levelled against BJP president L K Advani in > the infamous Jain hawala case. Not even the CBI. Even the worst critic of > Advani, Hindutva and sangh parivar shared the view that Advani had been > framed by the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao with an eye on the
impending > elections with the sole motive of tarnishing his image commentators like > Khushrant Singh, whose hostility towards BJP and its ideology heightened > after Babri Masjid demolition, wrote that he could not believe that Advani > could take bribe or cheat his wife. The editor of Sunday Vir Singhvi whose > opposition to BJP is well-known, wrote a convincing piece saying that the > charges against Advani were politically motivated. Coincidentally, N T
Rama > Rao expired just a day after the announcement of the chargesheet against > Advani. Rao's last comment on his life was in similar vein. > > On the day of cremation H D Deve Gowda, then the chief minister of
Karnataka > told Advani that he believed in the latter's innocence. Gowda repeated the > same sentiment to Advani when he had visited his place after assuming
charge > at the Centre. When Advani was exonerated in the hawala case on April 8, > Gowda was among the first callers to congratulate him and he reminded him
of > his earlier observations. When the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra
Gopi > Nath Munde met Jyoti Basu during his visit to Calcutta, the latter too > observed that he did not believe in the charge against Advani. A former > Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar gave a similar impression in a couple of his > write-ups. Such has been the moral height of Advani that not only within
the > sangh parivar but millions of people outside it, in India and abroad, never > believed in the CBI charges against Advani. It is against this background > that Delhi high court judgement generated instant euphoria in sangh
parivar. > > For sangh parivar, the high court judgement was a vindication of its
honour. > The charges levelled against Advani were an insult to each and everyone in > the sangh parivar as it has an image of high moral character. Narasimha > Rao's machination was a challenge to the RSS to produce leaders of high > integrity. One can contrast this with Congress and its leader Narasimha
Rao. > After losing power, when Rao was facing charges one after another, he > pathetically confided in a friend - Look at the BJP leader Advani. The
entire > organisation is behind him in fighting the case, but there I am alone, > everybody has deserted me. > > It was a fact, for there is an ocean of difference between Rao and Advani, > between Congress and the BJP. Advani still lives in a house allotted to him > decades back when he was a journalist. Times and again, he was offered big > bungalows, but he declined. Presidentship of the party is a focal point of > fight in many political parties including the Congress and Janata Dal.
People > have witnessed sordid political dramas even in the recent history. But in > BJP, many top leaders of the parivar have been advocating amendment to the > BJP constitution to facilitate continuance of Advani as the president for
the > third consecutive term. However, Advani has not agreed to it. There are any > number of examples of confirm that the BJP is different from others. > > What was Rao's game-plan when he gave signal to the CBI on January 1, 1996
to > chargesheet Advani? He just wanted to defile the different image of the BJP > and its leaders, keeping the impending electoral battle in mind where > numerous scams in his tenure were to play a crucial role. By chargesheeting > Advani, Rao wanted to make the whole corruption issue totally redundant. >From > January till the elections, the CBI worked as an election machinery for
Rao, > besmirching the image of the BJP by periodically planting stories in the > media. It was months-long campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party. > > Advani understood the game-plan the moment he heard of the chargesheet. He > turned the tables against Rao. He quit the Lok Sabha and vowed not to
contest > elections till he was absolved by the courts. This strategy worked as
magic. > Within days, resignations of hawala-charged ministers started pouring in.
A > couple of governors had to go. A number of Congress leaders were denied > tickets to contest elections on the ground of hawala. At the time of > elections, Congress further split on account of it. Even the Janata Dal > president had to go. Every move was to draw level with BJP and Advani. > > In the elections, corruption remained a dominant issue. Hawala cases hurt
the > Congress more. When Advani devised his strategy, he knew it fully well
that > given the legal system his vow may result in ending his parliamentary
career. > He staked himself in this strategy. > > Narasimha Rao had made up his mind to fix Advani from the day the latter
had > attacked him following the allegation of Harshad Mehta that he had
personally > given him (Narasimha Rao) Rs 1 crore. Chinta Mani Sharma, a joint director
in > the CBI, who had handled the Jain diary case in earlier stages, distinctly > recalled in a talk with this writer that the then CBI director Vijay Rama
Rao > had told him, "Advani has to be fixed, along with him his party would be > fixed." This was in 1994. Vijay Rama Rao was a confidant of Narasimha Rao. > > Narasimha Rao's target was only Advani. When on January 1 Rao gave green > signal to CBI director, the investigating agency was active on only
Advani's > front. Half a dozen people connected with Jam family were interrogated
only > about Advani. In the first week of January, the CBI team interrogated all > the security persons of Advani, even the former ones. They were taken to > Jain's house to find, out whether Advani ever visited these locations..
Some > of the security personnel were offered promotion if they gave statements > implicating Advani. Advani's relatives and friends were also interrogated > and harassed. > > Vijay Rama Rao did his best to serve his master, but could not get any > incriminating evidence or statement. Khandekar, an officer in the PMO, had > made a telephone call to a Marathi journalist who also knew Advani, > expressing his dismay. at Advani's over-reaction. "After all, Advani too
has > charged Narasimha Rao in Harshad Mehta episode." Had Advani's name not been > on the loose sheet, the cases would have been prolonged for years as they > were in cold storage for four years. > > As fate would have it, Mohammad Shamim's judgement did not consider diaries > and loose sheets as proof or evidence. As a result of Advani-related > judgement, many accused in the hawala may get relief ' Advani's counsel had > said in the court that even if the diaries and other papers were pieces of > evidence, Advani could not have been prosecuted as his name was not there
in > the diary: it figures only on a loose paper under the head of political > expenses. This amount did not tally with the monthly total. There were > various other inconsistencies in Advani's case. > >
