New Delhi: The BJP was certainly under control after its election drubbing. But now they may just be finding their voice -- just days after the CBI picked up five alleged middlemen in India's latest arms scandal.
The BJP on Saturday fired a political salvo. The target was one of the arrested middlemen and his alleged links to a top official in the Prime Minister's Office. That prompted a denial from the office.
Said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad earlier in the day: "I have a question about one middleman Ramesh Nambiar who has been arrested. Twenty two lacs have been recovered from his home. Who is he? He is an additional general manager in Air India and looks after sports and got out of turn promotion. He used to sit in the board meetings and was a regular visitor to the PMO. He is very close to a senior officer of the PMO. In what capacity was he going to the PMO? The PM himself should clarify the matter. There should be a time bound investigation."
The man the BJP is targetting without naming is the PM's Principal Secretary T K Nair. Given the seriousness of the charge and its implications, the Prime Minister's Media Advisor issued a denial late on Saturday evening:
"Mr Nair is active and engages in functions organised by social and cultural organisations as well as temples from Kerala....at any of these functions he may have met this gentleman...beyond that there has been no interaction ...Mr Nair does not know him personally."
The Bofors scam and its aftermath is something every politician and political party knows and remembers. Perhaps that explains best the BJP's allegation and the government quick denial, even as the investigations into the scam have just begun.