Congress changes stance on the release of Rajiv Gandhi’s killers, plays dirty

In a surprising but not entirely unexpected  move, Congress party made a u-turn on the issue of granting clemency to Rajiv Gandhi’s killers, accusing BJP of being hand in glove with the ruling government of Tamil Nadu in releasing the 7 convicts who were a part of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plot.

In a press brief, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala accused BJP of conspiring with the AIADMK government of Tamil Nadu in releasing the 7 convicts of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination plot. To quote him, “…Will BJP now with help of friend AIADMK & their appointed governor release terrorists just because they murdered former PM Rajiv Gandhi & others along with him?”

For those unaware, the Tamil Nadu’s cabinet of ministers has recommended the release of all 7 convicts, on both medical and humanitarian grounds. As per official sources, they’ve completed more than 27 years in prison, and on humanitarian grounds, they could be released, since most of them were sentenced to life imprisonment, according to the observations of the TN cabinet.

Though this criticism comes as a surprise, it is both pointless and futile for the Congress party. The party has been the first one to display low self respect and demand for their release. Their benevolence towards people like Warren Anderson, Dawood Ibrahim, Bada Sajid etc. are hidden from no one. So this stance is completely fraudulent. Does the party consider the Indians to be completely gullible and naive?

The allegation of Randeep Singh Surjewala stands completely exposed, if one takes the pains to exercise their grey matter. Only a month ago, the Central Government had flatly refused to accept the proposal of the Tamil Nadu government, reiterating in front of the Supreme Court that sixteen innocent lives were lost along with that of PM Rajiv Gandhi. Four of the seven convicts are ‘foreigners’ and as such, “…..it would set a very dangerous precedent and lead to international ramifications by other such criminals in the future.”

If this is the stance of BJP on the killers of Rajiv Gandhi, despite PM Gandhi’s ideology being stark opposite to that of the ‘saffron party’, what was the need to make them a scapegoat? We forget that this is the same Congress who continues to hold BJP responsible for the alleged escape of tax evaders like Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi etc., even though it was under NDA that their dark deals were first exposed. This blame game is nothing less than a classic example of shooting the messenger, a game only Congress is the best at in the Indian politics.

Truth be told, this is a politically dumb move by the Congress. Their credibility already at an all time low, such blame game is only alienating them from any further political support they need to sustain themselves in 2019 elections.