Diggy sets off blame game

Jun 11, 2010 - Age Correspondent |

New Delhi

The Congress was in a spot on Thursday with many party leaders taking contradictory positions, blaming party governments in both Bhopal and New Delhi for allowing former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson to flee India after the 1984 gas disaster.

It appeared some leaders spoke in different tunes to settle old scores. The first salvo came from AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, now in the US on a personal visit, who reportedly said the decision to free Mr Anderson was taken under “US pressure”. Mr Singh was then part of chief minister Arjun Singh’s government. He told a TV channel: “The state government hardly had any role to play. The CBI investigated the case and the judiciary decided compensation (for) the victims. Warren Anderson’s going away could have been under American pressure.”
His contention: the Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre issued all the orders, and the state only followed them.
Another party veteran Vasant Sathe put the blame on both the Centre and the state, saying “collusion” between the MP government and “some people” at the Centre allowed Mr Anderson to escape justice.
But senior leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi, now a CWC member, said the Centre had no role to play in the escape fiasco.
“The incident took place in Bhopal. The state government made the arrest; it helped Mr Anderson get bail the same day. He was sent to Delhi by a state government plane... Where is the role of the Centre? ... It’s only the state government.”

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