Lal Bahadur Shastri, Subhash Chandra Bose, Madhavrao Scindia, Rajesh Pilot, nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha and the deaths of many such noted individuals have remained a mystery to this day with so many questions unanswered. As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently said that he has known the ‘system’ from the inside since his birth and that he knows how it works, whom it favours and attacks, Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on the 23rd of May questioned Rahul Gandhi if knows about the mysterious deaths, corruption, favours as well as protection given to certain individuals in the past Congress governments since he was privy to such “secrets”.
Taking to X, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote, “Yesterday on May 22, 2024 I heard Rahul Gandhi speak about how he knows about the secrets of the “system”. Let me just jog his memory on some incidents where we are still waiting to understand and unravel secrets of the system!”
In the first question, Sarma asked about who was behind the mysterious death of Lalit Narayan Sharma who served as former Union Railways Minister (1973 to 1975), after he had differences with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
“Former Union Railway Minister Sh Lalit Mishra was killed in a mysterious bomb blast after he had differences with Indira Gandhi. Who was behind the blast?” Sarma asked.
Notably, the former Railways Minister was killed in the January 1975 bomb blast in Bihar’s Samastipur minutes after he gave a speech at a broad gauge railway line inaugural event.
A grenade was hurled at the dais, severely injuring Mishra, who died at the hospital. The assassination was initially probed by the local police and Bihar CID until the CBI took over on the 10th of January 1975. After more than 40 years of adjudication, the Trial Court found four people guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment in December 2014. Three Anand Margis followers, Santoshanand, Sudevanand, and Gopalji, as well as lawyer Ranjan Dwivedi, were found guilty. It was alleged that the convicted persons intended to put pressure on PM Gandhi to free the jailed leader of the Anand Margis, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar.
However, Mishra’s family was not of the view that the convicted persons were not real culprits. Vaibhav Mishra, L.N. Mishra’s grandson and an advocate, said that the CBI changed its probe into his grandfather’s murder, allowing the real accused to go free. A 2005 book Mitrokhin Archive II authored by Christopher Andrews based on KGB intelligence files has stated that the Congress coffers during Indira Gandhi’s regime were filled by KGB and the principal fundraiser, Lalit Narayan Mishra knew he was accepting Soviet money. The Congress party, however, denied these claims calling it “sensationalism”.
Himanta Biswa Sarma raises questions over the death of former Bihar CM KB Sahay
In the second question, CM Sarma recalled the mysterious death of former Bihar CM and Congress leader Krishna Ballabh Sahay also known as the Iron Man of Bihar who waged a crusade to abolish the Zamindari system. He became the fourth Bihar CM in 1963. He is remembered for passing the first revolutionary legislation in the country to eliminate the Zamindari system.
“Bihar’s Former Chief Minister Shri KB Sahay, who abolished the Zamindari System, died in a mysterious car accident after he fell off with Indira Gandhi. Why his death wasn’t investigated?” asked in his post.
Notably, On 29th May 1974, Sahay died on the spot after his car hit the back of a truck near Sindur village of Hazaribagh when he was returning from Patna to Hazaribagh after being elected as a member of the state Legislative Assembly.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy and Warren Anderson’s escape
The next question raised by Assam CM Himant Biswa Sarma is about Warren Anderson, who was the CEO of Union Carbide Corporation in 1984 when the Bhopal gas tragedy killed thousands. “Who made the telephone call from Delhi to allow Warren Anderson to escape? Sarma asked.
Notably, Anderson was detained as soon as he arrived in Bhopal. However, after only a few hours of house arrest, Anderson posted bail and fled the country, never to return and face trial.
Moti Singh, the then-Bhopal collector, claimed that Anderson escaped by using a phone in the room where he was confined to contact people in the United States.
It is also said that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi allowed Anderson to flee on the basis of a quid pro quo arrangement for the release of his childhood friend, Adil Shahryar, who was serving a 35-year sentence in the USA. Rahul Gandhi should speak up if his father had any role in Anderson’s escape since he claims to have known the system from the inside since the day he was born.
Bofors scam and where did the illegal kickbacks go?
The next question Sarma raised for Rahul Gandhi to answer is about the infamous Bofors scandal. “Where the money looted from Bofors and other such deals have been hidden?” CM Sarma asked.
It is pertinent to note that on the 18th of March 1986, India signed a Rs 1,437-crore contract with Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the delivery of 400 155 mm Howitzer guns to the Indian Army. A year later, on April 16, 1987, a Swedish radio station reported that the firm bribed nearly $9 million to key Indian politicians, Congress leaders and defence officials to get the deal. As OpIndia reported earlier, several documentary evidence hint at the alleged involvement of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her maternal family in the scam. Reports say that Rajiv Gandhi was aware of the alleged involvement and actively tried to cover it up even as the Army was of the view that Bofors could be arm-twisted into revealing the details of the real culprits.
Rahul Gandhi who led the infamous “Chowkidar Chor Hai” smear campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale fighter jets deal ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections only to apologise in the Supreme Court eventually should answer if knows anything about the alleged role of his father Rajiv Gandhi, mother Sonia Gandhi’s or any other person including his party leaders in the scam.
When ex-PM Manmohan Singh legitimised Pakistan’s India interference in Balochistan allegation in a joint statement with Pakistani counterpart in Sharm el-Sheikh
Before saying that the list of such unresolved mysteries is longer, CM Sarma in his fifth question asked about the 2009 joint statement wherein the then-PM Manmohan Singh ended up legitimising Pakistan’s accusations that India foments insurgency in Balochistan. “One whose instructions did Dr Manmohan Singh give a clean chit to Pakistan in Sharm-El-Sheikh?” Sarma asked.
On 16th July 2009, then PM Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani, met during a meeting in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh. Here, PM Singh agreed to make a mention of Balochistan. “Prime Minister Singh reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice. Prime Minister Gilani assured that Pakistan will do everything in its power in this regard….Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas,” the 2009 joint statement reads.
This was in sharp contrast to India’s usual stand on Balochistan-related issues. Earlier, India refrained from making any reference in joint statements since India has strongly denied any involvement in Balochistan liberation resistance.
Instead of snubbing Pakistan for providing a safe haven to Mumbai 26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed and his Islamist terrorist organisation, PM Singh ended up allowing Pakistan to accuse India of fomenting insurgency in Balochistan. Pakistan managed to make India acknowledge its ‘involvement’ in Balochistan. PM Singh’s faux pas altered the Balochistan issue from a bleeding wound into one caused by alleged Indian meddling.
This, however, remains unclear to date as to what made PM Singh take a sudden shift from India’s stand as CM Sarma questioned did PM Singh received instructions from someone to give clean chit to India’s hostile neighbour. Since Rahul Gandhi claims to be an ‘insider’ knowing very well how the ‘system’ works, favours, protects and attacks someone, he should behave like the “JanNayak” he claims to be and speak up about the incidents discussed above and also about numerous scams he and other Congress leaders have allegedly been mired in.
Concluding his post, the BJP leader said that “the best way forward is to set up a Judicial Commission and investigate all the secrets Rahul was privy to, and that harmed national interests.”
This came after Congress prince Rahul Gandhi while speaking at Samvidhan Samman Sammelan on Wednesday said, “I have been sitting in the system since the day I was born. I understand the system from the inside. You cannot hide the system from me. How it works, whom it favours, how it favours, whom it protects, whom it attacks, I know everything because I come from inside the system. When my grandmother was the PM, my father was the PM, and when Manmohan Singh was the PM, I used to go to the PM’s house. So I know how the system works from the inside. I can tell you one thing, the system is aligned against the lower castes, severely and on every level…”