The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

There are many good reasons why there should be a new book on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Dr. Subramanian Swamy explains in the preface some of these reasons. Even after the Supreme Court verdict on sentences on the persons accused of killing Rajiv Gandhi there remains an area which the judiciary understandably has left untouched. It is the political accountability of a host of parties and individuals which needs to be probed Dr. Swamy is only urging this. Apart from being a live-wire politician, Dr. Swamy has been in a unique position to have an insight into Indian politics. It is thus that this book reveals his proximity to both Chandrashekhar, who became Prime Minister after the BJP-supported V.P. Singh Government fell, and to Rajiv Gandhi whose Congress propped up the new government. He was thus privy to many secrets between Chandrashekhar and Rajiv, apart from the benefit as a Cabinet Minister he derived talking to deep throats. The claim of this book is not to reveal who killed Rajiv. The author is happy with the Supreme Court upholding the prosecution case stewarded by the Special Investigation Team. The question he raises is that perhaps all those who should have been punished have not been in the dock. And, most of them are not an offshore entity like the LTTE. If they are Indian political groups or individuals, including some belonging to Rajiv’s own Congress party, it would remain a moot question whether retribution has been done by only convicting the LTTE activists.