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Fresh Investigations on Bofors and Likely Fall-out on Indian Scene
FRESH investigations in India over the sensational arms purchase deal with Swedish firm Bofors in 1986. in which influential middlemen are believed to have received US dollar 50 million as bribe to secure the contract, have triggered off hew Interest op the i$sue,and'it is'assumed , that the deveiopnfent'Wfll Haw” a marked impact on the political' scenario of the country. The Bofors scandal had raised a storm in India for several years and the fall of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's government in 1989 is largely attributed to this scam. The multi-million dollar deal had shaken the Indian political system. then contributed to the bringing down of the government and continued to raise the dust as suspicion and confusion persisted about the scandal owing to failure to seize the documents from Sweden as well as the alleged bank accounts related to the pay-offs as Swiss bank authorities dragged their feet and at times gave conflicting information. As a result there was not much talk about the scam in recent past although this remained to be a major issue in the political and other circles awaiting to be clarified and settled and the matter was set at rest. It was also mentioned several times that persons really involved in the much-talked about corruption deal in the Indian history were brought to books after thorough investigations and at the same time accusing fingers were not raised against individuals without any definite proofs.
But. because of the complexities involved in the matter, controversies in different forms surrounded it and in the process little meaningful progress was made towards unearthing the scandal. Finally. Indian detectives were given green signals a few days ago to
begin, piping through confidential documents relating to the 1.3 billion dollar arms scandal. A spokesman of the Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) said in New Delhi that investigations on the matter would begin soon, after five hundred Swiss bank account documents were handed over to federal detectives. The papers connected with the deal are expected to reveal the names of the middlemen and officials who are suspected to have pocketed the big sum of fifty million dollar. The details of the account transac-> tions were handed over by the Swiss authorities in Berne recently to the Indian authorities following seven years of legal wrangles after India had asked for help to solve the case. The documents which were flown from Switzerland were presented to a court before the CBI was ordered to begin its investigations. This was done for the sensitivity and the secrecy involved with the documents. It is understood that the handing over of these documents must have sent the chill down the spines of many important persons since this will expectedly, facilitate unearthing of much of the mystery and suspicion shrouding the case.
The "Bofors"' scam is seen as the biggest corrupt practice done in India in matters of buying defence hardware as it came to surface in 1987 that huge amount of money was used as kickbacks to secure the deal of 410 artillery guns from Sweden. Initially only the tip to the iceberg was discernible but later
more and more about the deal cafne toThe fort' creating serious embarrassment for the government of Rajiv Gandhi. In a democratic country like India where transparency and accountability are largely maintained in dealing with the public money, the issue sparked off an unprecedented storm with the politicians and the press going all out to look deeper into the alleged scam.
Both houses of the parliament — the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — were the sites of uproar between the ruling and the opposition sides for months on the issue while the opposition took the agitations to the streets. Premier dailies sent their investigative journalists to Sweden and Switzerland to secure information about the scandal. The matter came as a bolt from the blue for prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, whose "Mr Clean" image that he so assiduously built up was dealt a severe blow. The opposition took full advantage of the government's predicament and raised a hue and cry in the country over the alleged corruption in the higher echelons of the administration. Suddenly. the image of the prime minister was severally mauled and he could deliver little to his Congress party with a tainted image. The issue brought down his government in the 1989 general elections.
The politicians at" the national level of India who enjoy relatively clean public image
like Atal Vihari ..Vajpawee, Vishwanattt Pratap Sfngh. Jy-oti Basu. Inderjlt Gupta and others, cutting across their party lines, mounted an orchestrated demand that the scandal be probed.
However, the government that took over following the defeat of Rajiv's Congress in the elections could not perform much on this issue ana a clear picture of the deal remained an enigma for the Indian people, most of whom believe that the scam is true but want to know more like who how are involved in it. The delay in the investigations from time to time was also due to the fact that the two countries. Sweden and Switzerland — wherefrom the arms were purchased and alleged money from the pay-offs were deposited respectively — have their own laws in giving information sought by the Indian authorities. Besides. Bofors firm also contested many developments from time to time and went to their country's administration and courts. Much of these decks have now been cleared and the investigations are now likely to bring many facts to the fore.
What Impact will it have on the current government or political scene in India? Certainly, this new development will have repercussions in the political alignment, particularly in the present United Front-Congress relationship. The "green signal'' given to the CBI may not be kindly taken by the Congress, which supports the government. The federal
government of H D Deve Gowda is walking a tight political rope over the factor of Congress support to the 13-party coalition, whose survival rests on the support. This will anger a section of the Congress which is perceived considerably powerful in the organisation. The faction or supporters of former prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao may take some pleasure out of this situation since they have been elbowed out by the antiRao groups from both the leadership. In the party and in the parliament, in recent months. Mr Sitaram Kesri has occupied both the positions of head oi the organisation and the parliamentary party. Rao and his
supporters had always sought to distance themselves from the Bofors. indicating that more closer person to late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi like Arjun Singh and others might be closely linked with the scandal when the party was in government. Adun and others who are; knpwn to be; close to Rajiv's widow. Udllari-born Sonia, were cornered by Rao and some of them, including Singh hfril-' self, had to leave the party.
However. Singh ahd’N D Tiwari have come back to the Congress after, in a reversal turn. Rao group has been marginalised. The dominant groups in the Congress now is not favourably disposed to continue-the support to the government. The Bofors issue will further alienate them from the Gowda government. But the government possibly cannot afford to turn a "Nelson eye” to such an issue for political exigencies. Bofors investigations will ultimately embarrass many a heavyweight in Indian politics.