NEW DELHI/CHENNAI: Reacting sharply to the Supreme Court order, Congress said that it differed with Sonia Gandhi on pardoning them. Addressing a press conference in Delhi on Friday, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said his party will seek legal remedy.
“The premature release of the six convicts, who had carried out the brutal, pre-meditated and heinous assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, has shocked the nation’s conscience and has invited serious concern and criticism from all sides of the political spectrum,” Singhvi said.
“The assassination of a former PM stands on a totally different footing. Irrespective of political color, such a person is reflective of the insignia of the sovereignty of the country,” Singhvi said. On the question of why the party’s opinion in this matter is at variance with Sonia Gandhi, the MP said, “Sonia Gandhi is entitled to her views but the party does not agree with it. We respect that. If we can disagree with Mrs Gandhi’s views, we can disagree with the DMK as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, the party’s ally DMK and other political parties in Tamil Nadu, except the state Congress unit, the BJP and the TMC, welcomed the verdict. The parties, while hailing the verdict, slammed Governor R N Ravi and his predecessor Banwarilal Purohit over the delay in taking a call on the State Cabinet’s decision to release the convicts.
Chief Minister M K Stalin said, “It’s a historic verdict that upholds democratic principles. The ruling also underscored the fact that Governors should not keep the decisions taken by a popular government in abeyance as they are merely appointees to the gubernatorial post.”
Verdict a victory for human rights: CM
The DMK government has been demanding the release of these convicts. In 2000, the then CM M Karunanidhi took steps to commute Nalini’s death sentence to life imprisonment. “This verdict is a victory for all those who are struggling for human rights and humanism,” Stalin said.
AIADMK organising secretary D Jayakumar termed the verdict a victory for the continuous legal steps taken by successive AIADMK governments. Giving a detailed account of the efforts of former CMs J Jayalalithaa and Edappadi K Palaniswami, he said,
“Their legal battle has now culminated in the release of all the convicts.” AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam also welcomed the verdict. TNCC president KS Alagiri toed his party’s line and expressed dismay. “The families of those who lost their lives along with Rajiv Gandhi are in deep grief,” he said.
CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan said the governor and the Centre delayed a decision on the State Cabinet’s recommendation to release these convicts. MDMK general secretary Vaiko said even after the SC said TN could release the convicts, the governor had ignored the state’s requests.
PMK founder S Ramadoss said these convicts would have been released four years ago had the Governor accepted the Cabinet’s decision. “A deadline should be fixed for Governors to make a decision,” he said. VCK president Thol Thirumavalavan said the verdict had confirmed that governors are bound by the decisions of the State Cabinet and called for the governor to resign.
BJP state president K Annamalai pointed out that the convicts had not been acquitted. “I request CM Stalin not to make TN a haven for the convicts who are released now and who are not citizens of our country.”