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Bail for Union Carbide chief challenged

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NK SINGH Bhopal: A local lawyer has moved the court seeking cancellation of the absolute bail granted to Mr. Warren Ander son, chairman of the Union Carbide Corporation, whose Bhopal pesticide plant killed over 2,000 persons last December. Mr. Anderson, who was arrested here in a dramatic manner on December 7 on several charges including the non-bailable Section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), was released in an even more dramatic manner and later secretly whisked away to Delhi in a state aircraft. The local lawyer, Mr. Quamerud-din Quamer, has contended in his petition to the district and sessions judge of Bhopal, Mr. V. S. Yadav, that the police had neither authority nor jurisdiction to release an accused involved in a heinous crime of mass slaughter. If Mr. Quamer's petition succeeds, it may lead to several complications, including diplomatic problems. The United States Government had not taken kindly to the arrest of the head of one of its most powerful mul...
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When LK Advani kicked out Kushabhau Thakre from Madhya Pradesh on charge of groupism

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Kushabhau Thakre

NK SINGH

Published in India Today, 15 August 1993

The decision by L.K. Advani to "kick start" party politics in Madhya Pradesh has begun with taking away General Secretary Kushabhau Thakre's charge of the state.

It has created a storm amongst the rank and file who viewed Thakre as a father figure. Thakre's charge being handed over to Sunder Singh Bhandari has also upset Vijaya Raje Scindia, former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa and party manager Kailash Sarang as they are all part of Thakre's inner circle.

Thakre has presided over the party's affairs for more than 40 years. He was an RSS full-timer, 'loaned' to the BJP for building up the organisation. The organisational elections two months ago demonstrated his power.

But it was the party's dissidents who triumphed when Advani decided to get rid of Thakre in Madhya Pradesh. For a long time, dissidents had been complaining about Thakre's role as protector only to his chosen group. His fall was meant to demonstrate Advani's impartiality and to end factionalism.

The dissidents have not won everything though. It's true that Advani appointed dissident Kailash Joshi as the national chief of the party's Kisan Morcha; and Bhandari made Dilip Singh Judeo, another dissident leader, in charge of the Chhattisgarh region.

But the most prominent dissident, Pyarelal Khandelwal, was sent packing to Haryana.

The biggest setback, however, is for Patwa, who has relied on Thakre's support to weather many a political storm. It means that Patwa and his colleagues in the dominant faction can no longer be sure of getting the lion's share of party tickets during the next elections.

For the moment, though, everyone is waiting for the dust from the "kick-start" to settle before they decide on their next move.

India Today 15 August 1993

India Today 15 August 1993


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