New Delhi: The recently released book called ``Unknown Facets of Rajiv Gandhi, Jyoti Basu and Indrajit Gupta’’ written by former CBI director Dr A P Mukherjee has added fuel to the already ignited issue of party funds.
Based on his conversations with Rajiv Gandhi in June 1989, Mujherjee claims that Rajiv Gandhi, the then prime minister, wanted the commissions from defence suppliers to be added with more funds and be used for "inescapable expenses of the party".
However, Rajiv Gandhi's party lost elections the same year after the Bofors scandal. The book says, "Rajiv Gandhi was very clear that commissions paid as a routine by most defence dealers should be properly accounted for and not siphoned off by dishonest officials of the armed forces and politicians...he wanted such payments to be pooled and accounted for.This (elections) leads to massive fund collections by important party functionaries all over the country, which leads to an almost unbreakable unholy quid pro quo nexus between unscrupulous party functionaries, ministers and businessmen. I could sense this as the party's general secretary or even as its youth leader earlier when I had to enter the political arena with considerable reluctance’’.
Mukherjee says that Rajiv had discovered that some senior officers of the armed forces were involved in secretly collecting commissions while purchasing arms and ammunitions with help from some ministers, middlemen and civilian officers.Hence, a solution was thought in order to disconnect this link between the middlemen, ministers and bureaucrats. Also, he wished to end government’s relation with those dishonest businessmen and politicians.
Rajiv’s some of the most trusted colleagues suggested to him to ban commissions but the commission received during major arms deal by the suppliers to be pooled in and used for party funds. Rajiv endorsed the same idea.While Mukherjee served as the additional director to CBI, he maintained a diary of these conversations but making them public would have meant breaching the trust of Rajiv Gandhi which he never wished for.
"However, at this distant time and that too long after his tragic death, I owe it to posterity to narrate the full and complete disclosure of all that transpired between the two of us during this memorable coffee meeting with this remarkable human being whose trust I was privileged to receive in ample measure."
Money from defence suppliers should be used for party funds said Rajiv Gandhi: Ex-CBI chief