Bhopal: Prabhat Jha, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief, on Thursday flayed Arjun Singh for pointing fingers at the late PV Narasimha Rao in the exit of former Union Carbide
chief Warren Anderson in the wake of Bhopal gas disaster, thereby giving a clean chit to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
By giving such a statement, Singh has exposed himself by talking of his own follies and those of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Jha told a news agency.
He said in a bid to save Rajiv Gandhi, the former chief minister shifted blame to Union Home ministry officials but did not name any one.
Jha said if Singh had not given the consent for the use of the state plane by Anderson, then why did he not take action against the officials and the pilot responsible for it.
He said the then Union Home Minister PV Narasimha Rao and also the chief secretary of that time, Brahm Swaroop were no longer alive to defend themselves.
Singh, who made a rare appearance in Rajya Sabha yesterday to participate in a discussion on Bhopal gas tragedy, said he was informed by his chief secretary Brahm
Swaroop that there were "persistent calls from home ministry officials in Delhi for granting bail to Anderson".
"Rajivji never uttered a single word on the next two days, either in support of Mr Anderson or trying to mitigate his problems," he said, adding that attaching any motive on the then prime minister would be a "figment of imagination of persons who can see nothing constructive of a person of that stature".
Meanwhile, NGOs working for the gas victims also expressed disappointment over Singh`s statement.
The convenor of Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Udyog Sangthan, Abdul Jabbar said he could not believe that the state government plane has given to Anderson without Singh`s
permission.
Rachna Dhingra of Bhopal Group for Information and Action said Singh had put the blame on a dead persons who cannot defend themselves.
PTI
