archive: Sonia's double standards: Kurien stays, Vinod goes
Sonia's double standards: Kurien stays, Vinod goes
Express News Service
The Indian Express
May 11, 1999
Title: Sonia's double standards: Kurien stays, Vinod goes
Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 11, 1999
Caught in a tricky situation, Congress president Sonia Gandhi gas
chosen to back her confidant P J Kurien who is in the midst of an
embarrassing reopening of the 1996 Suryanelli sex scandal in Kerala,
in which he was alleged to have had a hand.
The case is back in the news and Kurien has been summoned to appear
before a local court and "give his version of the facts". The case is
about a teenaged girl who was kept in captivity for 40 days and
allegedly gangraped by several politicians, including Kurien, whom the
girl identified from a photograph in the media. The case had shaken
Kerala between 1996 and 1998 but Kurien won the Lok Sabha elections
twice after that.
The sordid details of the case are enough to warrant the sacking of
any politician from whichever party he or she belongs to and Sonia was
forced to take it up with Kurien after the issue was back in the news
a few days ago. It comes on the heels of the Jessica Lal murder case
after which Sonia had ordered the Chandigarh Congress chief Vinod
Sharma to step down.
Sharma's son Manu Sharma is the main accused in the Jessica Lal case
and this was enough for Sonia to take action against Vinod Sharma.
Ever since Sonia took over as Congress president, she has been laying
stress on the ethical conduct of partymen and an Ethics Committee was
set up by her in the party, headed by A K Antony. The Committee has
been asked to look into the Vinod Sharma and the P J Kurien instances
but early indications are that Sonia will stick by Kurien, at least
for the moment. Kurien is a staunch 10, Janpath, loyalist and was
nominated the party's Chief whip in the erstwhile Lok Sabha.
His equation with Sonia is definitely better than that of Vinod Sharma
and this is bound to have its effect. Consequently, Sonia has asked
Congress spokespersons to take a pro-Kurien line-which they did today.
"The Charges against Kurien are politically motivated. Since he has
not committed any crime, what action could be taken against him... He
is not guilty, "said Rajya Sabha member Vyalar Ravi who was the PCC
president when the case was first filed in 1996.
He added that Kurien's summoning by the lower court did not mean that
prima facie, a case has been established against Kurien. Ravi said two
inquiries by senior Police officials had exonerated Kurien in the ease
and a lower court and the High Court had also rejected petitions in
the matter. Kurien too has taken a similar fine of defence and until
his role is clearly proven, Sonia is unlikely to take action against
him.
Back
Top
|
