|
Blast
From The Past
A renewed
legal offensive against former Union minister Sukh Ram foils his political
plans in Himachal, besides embarrassing the state Government. INDIA TODAY's
Special Correspondent Ramesh Vinayak reports.
The
past has a way of catching up at all the wrong times. And former Union
telecommunications minister and chief of the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC)
Sukh Ram is discovering that the hard way. Just when he thought that the
time was ripe for chalking out a strategy for his political future in
his home state, Himachal Pradesh, his earlier deeds seem to be getting
the better of him.
In a legal soup after a special judge of a Delhi court recently framed
charges of corruption against him, Sukh Ram is now a worried man. Based
on a CBI chargesheet, the charges pertain to the recovery of unaccounted
assets worth Rs 6 crore from Sukh Ram. These include, besides cash, moveable
and immoveable properties which were unearthed during raids on his homes
in Delhi and Mandi during August 1996. Ram faces a trial under the Prevention
of Corruption Act 1998 and, if found guilty, could be sentenced to jail
for a period extending up to seven years.
That, however,
is only part of the former minister's ordeal. Three days after these charges
were slapped, the Supreme Court served a notice on him on a CBI appeal
challenging his discharge in the Rs 1.68 crore telecom scam by the Delhi
High Court.
Union minister between July 1992 and May 1996, Ram was considered the
face of post-liberalisation corruption in the P.V. Narasimha Rao government
at the Centre after the CBI raids. But with the passage of time and a
fading public memory, he had somehow managed to regain credibility, at
least in Himachal Pradesh, his rag-tag HVC even becoming a coalition partner
in the ruling BJP government. The recent court developments, clearly,
have come as a major setback.
For one, they will put on hold Sukh Ram's much-hyped political plans,
which include making the HVC a "third force" in state politics.
Secondly, it has meant fresh embarrassment for the state Government. Although
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal tried to downplay the charges against
Ram, who heads an employment generation committee and enjoys the perks
of a cabinet minister, he was fooling none. "The court developments
will have no impact on the BJP-HVC alliance," Dhumal clarified, taking
refuge under the plea that the corruption cases against Ram were registered
before he forged a coalition with the BJP.
The Opposition, however, has been quick to take exception, demanding Ram's
removal as chairman of the high-profile employment panel, a portfolio
that was specially carved for him when he had to resign as PWD minister
three years ago. "Sukh Ram has lost moral right to be part of the
government," says Mohinder Singh, MLA and Ram's friend-turned-foe,
now heading the Lok Jan Shakti Party. Surprisingly, the Congress has chosen
to keep mum on the issue. A section of the state wing of the party, led
by its president Vidya Stokes, has been known to be pitching for Ram's
return into the Congress fold to checkmate heavyweight and former Congress
minister Virbhadra Singh. Ironically for Ram, the CBI's renewed legal
offensive has come at a time when he was mounting pressure on Dhumal and
the BJP's central leadership to order a CBI probe against Singh. Three
years ago, Dhumal, at Ram's bidding, had forwarded to the CBI a charter
of allegations of corruption against Singh for an inquiry which is yet
to be ordered.
Knowing the political compulsions of keeping Ram in a good humour, the
BJP is trying to deflect the demand for his ouster with a law-will-take-its-own-course
chant. On the inside, however, the recent developments have meant a reprieve
for the BJP from Ram's aggressive politics of blackmail. BJP-HVC ties,
hardly cordial even at the best of times, had come under much strain with
Ram publicly criticising Dhumal and blaming him for all that is wrong
with the state, including the financial mess.
Ram's intemperate barbs were seen as part of his usual threaten-and-bargain
tactics to get a larger share in the power cake. He had lately been gunning
for the BJP to distance himself from the anti-incumbency factor and emerge
as a " third force" in the state. He had been dropping enough
hints of the HVC going it alone in the next assembly elections and had
been doing everything he could to give the party a boost. But all that
will have to wait. As Ram realises, he has to first find ways to survive
the blast from the past.
|
|
|
|
|
