Nov 16,1998

Ahluwalia's letter to Sonia on poll panels could prove more than just an embarrassment.

By Harinder Baweja

The fires are raging again. In 1984, the rising flames had been snuffed out along with 2,733 lives. It had drained Bhagwanti Kaur of all emotion -- she lost 11 members of her family in the anti-Sikh riots. But 14 years later on exactly the same day, October 31, memories come rushing back. The marauding mob. The politicians exhorting them. The shrieks of her father, husband and brothers as they begged for mercy. As the tears roll down, all Bhagwanti can say is, "Once again it has boiled down to politics.''

Indeed it has. It was a scathing six-page letter that Congress leader S.S. Ahluwalia shot off to party chief Sonia Gandhi on October 31 that brought back the memories. Besides reminding the her of the plight of those widowed and orphaned during the riots, Ahluwalia also questioned the appointments Sonia had made to various election and campaign committees. They included senior party leaders H.K.L. Bhagat, Sajjan Kumar and Dharam Dass Shastri, among the prime accused in the '84 riots.

Sonia found herself caught on the wrong foot. Just last month she had laid down a stringent code of conduct for party members through an ethics committee. Ahluwalia, a part of the "shouting brigade'' that kept former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao on the edge at 10 Janpath's behest, was this time taking on the lady herself. Mocking her efforts at emerging as Mrs Clean and establishing her hold on the party.

"We are not giving Bhagat and others tickets. They are senior Congressmen and we are only using their experience,'' Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Sheila Dikshit offered by way of an explanation.

But as Ahluwalia's letter points out, para 10 of the code of conduct passed by the Congress Working Committee on September 15 stipulates that "a Congress member shall not associate or have any connection with any criminal element nor shall propose to support any candidate with a criminal record for any party or public post''. Ironically, the ethics committee's report was adopted with a quote of Mahatma Gandhi: "An ounce of practice is more than tonnes of preaching."

Lest the message did not get across, Ahluwalia drew parallels between the plight of the '84 widows and Sonia's own widowhood. He said it was her moral responsibility to provide justice to the victims. To rub it in, the former MP drew on her famous Amethi speech -- her first in public -- when she unnerved the the Narasimha Rao government by saying her husband's killers were roaming free four years after the assassination. "The entire world knows that the anti-Sikh riots were engineered by powerful Congress leaders and then Congress MPs and ministers like Bhagat, Kumar, Jagdish Tytler and Shastri," said Ahluwalia.

What is now worrying senior Congress leaders of the DPCC is that the BJP has lost no time in turning the controversy into an election issue.

The Sikh community, which accounts for 11 per cent of the electorate in Delhi, is being arduously wooed not only by the BJP-Akali Dal combine, but also by the Congress. To the Congress, it is a big challenge as on November 4, Guru Nanak's birth anniversary, the Sikh clergy in the Capital issued an appeal to the community asking it not to vote for that party. In a position to affect the results in five to seven constituencies, the Sikh support can prove crucial for both the BJP and the Congress, especially since there is no third front in the battle for the 70-member Delhi Assembly.

Ahluwalia's letter offers a glimmer of hope for the BJP struggling to retain power. "Sonia Gandhi apologised for Operation Bluestar and the Sikh riots but through the appointments, she has only shown that a leopard never changes its spots,'' says BJP General Secretary M. Venkaiah Naidu.

Sonia has issued a show-cause notice to Ahluwalia for going public with the issue. But the fact is the party fears that he is on his way to joining the BJP or the Samata Party in Bihar. Any action initiated against him may actually lead to a step in that direction. It's that much more difficult because November 25 is fast approaching. That is the day, Bhagwanti and others like her will walk to the polling station. Memories intact.

© Living Media India Ltd