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Rajiv case verdict may have 'sparked plot to kill' Sonia

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had got wind of the threat to the life of Congress President Sonia Gandhi soon after the Supreme Court had delivered its verdict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Disclosing this, top home ministry officials told Rediff On The NeT that the apex court's verdict had triggered intense activity among the hardcore sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The Supreme Court had confirmed the death sentences of four of the 26 accused in the case.

Consequently, these sympathisers' activities were being closely monitored by the government's intelligence apparatus, the officials pointed out. Coded messages - exchanged by these sympathisers, expressing anguish over the verdict -- have been intercepted.

The officials said the government had reasons to believe that the verdict had greatly agitated some of these sympathisers and there was a distinct possibility that the LTTE could strike against the slain prime minister's widow, Sonia Gandhi.

As a result, the security to the Congress chief had been increased, they said.

The officials are reportedly apprehensive that the 19 acquitted in the case might still have some links with the LTTE. Sources said this has caused concern in the ministry.

Asked whether there was any substance in senior Congress leader Arjun Singh's assertion that 'fascist forces' were hatching a conspiracy to kill the Congress chief, the officials answered in the negative.

They pointed out that they had apprised the government of the actual threat to the Congress chief and that they preferred not to comment on the statements of various political leaders in this regard.

However, Congress office-bearers have indicated that Arjun Singh and Pranab Mukherjee were trying to corner credit for 'highlighting' the issue.

Sources said the two senior leaders had been eyeing the number two slot in the party during Sonia's absence. Arjun Singh, they said, was not amused as Mukherjee had presided over the recent Congress Working Committee meeting. The party constitution -stipulating that, in the party chief's absence, the senior-most member should preside over important party affairs -- came as a boon for Mukherjee.

However, with Sonia withdrawing her resignation, the tussle between the two leaders cannot but take a backseat.

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Lankan government unaware of LTTE threat to Sonia

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