Since excerpts of the Jain Commission report were published in the monthly journal India Today, Congress (I) had been demanding the removal of Tamil Nadu’s ruling party DMK from the coalition. But other coalition members have refused to sack DMK. Observers believe Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia Gandhi is behind Congress (I)’s aggressive demand.
The Jain Commission was appointed three years ago to probe conspiracies behind the murder of Rajiv Gandhi. A woman suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv during election campaign in Tamil Nadu in May 1991. LTTE leader V Prabhakaran and Tiger intelligence chief Pottu Amman are the two main accused in the court case relating to the killing.
The 17 volume 5,280 page Jain Commission interim report says that the Rajiv assassination would not have been possible without the deep nexus of LTTE operatives and Tamils in Tamil Nadu and accuses the DMK of assisting the Tigers even when an Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was fighting the LTTE in Sri Lanka. The report also blames former Prime Ministers VP Singh and Chandra Shekar for denying adequate security for Rajiv Gandhi. DMK leader M Karunanidhi rejects the findings of the Commission and highlights the roles of Congress (I) leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi in supplying arms and providing training to the LTTE.
The Congress (I) has undoubtedly seen the report as an opportunity to make a comeback, but with only 138 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) lacks the support to win a confidence vote. The Hindu nationalist BJP with 162 seats also cannot form a government without the support of other smaller parties and the likelihood of fresh election looms.
Meanwhile on 8 November a Chennai court found LTTE members Chinna Santhan and Anandaraj guilty of abetment in the murder of EPRLF leader K Pathmanabha and 14 others in Chennai in June 1990. Former DMK minister J Subbulakshmi and former Tamil Nadu Home Secretary R Nagarajan were among the 15 acquitted.