RJD washes its hands of Saptharishi

Cornered by the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has decided to leave behind the controversy emanating from the charges brought by Capart Director-General VL Saptharishi in a letter to Law Minister HR Bhardwaj against election commissioners BB Tandon and N Gopalaswami.

In fact, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who has been accused of goading Saptharishi into writing the letter, today said Railway Minister Lalu Prasad should have consulted him and other UPA members before going public with the letter.

The message was clear. The RJD leaders, despite having met Saptharishi today, decided to distance themselves from the matter. That the RJD was now trying to keep away from the controversy was evident today when, in Parliament, Prasad and his MPs did not raise it.

Singh denied having a quid pro quo with Saptharishi""the letter in exchange for an extension of his tenure. "This is a tissue of lies, spread by the BJP.

The fixed tenure for the Capart director-general had been decided in a resolution of the Capart board in January 2005, social workers Mohan Dharia, Anna Hazare and Sunderlal Bahuguna were present," he said. "What does that have to do with Saptharishi's letter?" he said.

He admitted that taking on the poll panel was a foolhardy move. "Since the CEC can only be removed by impeachment, wider political consultations should have been held, which was not done by the RJD chief. But, we have nothing to do with Saptharishi's letter," he said.

While the minister has not initiated any action against the West Bengal cadre IAS officer, the department of personnel and training has sent a showcause notice to Saptharishi for breaking service rules.

Singh, however, said in his personal opinion, "if a person's sense of outrage is awakened late after an event, even then, whether he is an officer or not, he has the right to express his or her opinion".

It seems that Saptharishi's worst nightmare seems to have come true with all his earlier supporters deserting him. First the government and now, the RJD seems to have found him and his accusations a trifle uncomfortable to deal with.