With controversy over former Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson’s exit from India after the Bhopal gas tragedy continued to hog the limelight, the Congress on Wednesday said the escape could have happened due to a “systemic failure”.
The party, while emphatically denying any involvement of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the fiasco, maintained that instead of finger-pointing the effort should be to address the raising issues pertaining to the accident.
Meanwhile, the ruling party also came out with a four-page note defending Rajiv Gandhi, as it claimed that Mr Anderson was given bail since he had agreed to be present in court when charges would be made.
The note said, “There is a sinister design to somehow malign and drag Rajivji in the picture. Parliament elections were also on during those days. The attempt of media that the people were betrayed and Mr Anderson was allowed to run away is totally motivated stories after so many years. The important aspect is that in so far as the grant of compensation or providing rehabilitation of the victims, the Central government has taken adequate steps and measures, which are laudable and appreciable.”
Talking to reporters at party’s regular briefing AICC spokesperson Manish Tewari said, “At the end of it there was a systemic failure and there is a need to address it... If we go into the game of finger-pointing, there can be no end. I can ask the BJP about Rs 1 lakh it received as donation from Dow as was reflected in the affidavit it filed before the Election Commission. There was never ever any intention of the Central government to allow any culprit to go scot-free.”
When asked about the new revelations shown by TV channels, which included the bytes of the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Arjun Singh and Mr Anderson, the spokesperson preferred to deflect the issues to GoM headed by home minister P. Chidambaram.
He said, “The GoM would look into all aspects of the issue.”