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Home > News > India News > Article > Appeal against Bofors order escalated Sonia Rao friction Margaret Alva

Appeal against Bofors order escalated Sonia-Rao friction: Margaret Alva

Updated on: 17 July,2016 08:09 AM IST  | 
Agencies |

The decision by then Narasimha Rao government to appeal against a Delhi High court order quashing the Bofors case linking Rajiv Gandhi had deepened Sonia Gandhi’s suspicion over Rao, escalating friction between the two, says veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva

Appeal against Bofors order escalated Sonia-Rao friction: Margaret Alva

New Delhi: The decision by then Narasimha Rao government to appeal against a Delhi High court order quashing the Bofors case linking Rajiv Gandhi had deepened Sonia Gandhi’s suspicion over Rao, escalating friction between the two, says veteran Congress leader Margaret Alva.


Ahead of release of her book, Courage and Commitment, which is an account of her chequered political life, Alva said following the decision, she was asked by a furious Sonia whether Rao wanted to send her to jail. Alva, who held various positions in Congress before she was asked to resign in 2008 after her allegations that party tickets were “sold” in the Karnataka Assembly polls, appeared critical of Congress leadership for a “centralised decision-making” system in the party.


She also spoke about the relationship between CPN Singh, a Minister of Indira Gandhi’s government and Wolfgang Michel, father of middleman Christian Michel, whose name had cropped up in the AgustaWestland chopper deal. Alva talked about supply of tanks to South Africa in 1980 and how Wolfgang Michel, then based in London, was influential and may have had links with Sanjay Gandhi. Recalling the tense relationship between Sonia and Rao, Alva said the PMO’s decision to deal with the CBI directly over the Bofors case without her knowledge had deepened Sonia’s suspicion of Rao.


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