The Hindu : National : BJP casts Vajpayee in grandfather's role

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Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006

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National

BJP casts Vajpayee in grandfather's role

Neena Vyas

Rahul case: law will take its own course, says Javadekar

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party continued to maintain distance from the incidents involving Rahul Mahajan, son of deceased party leader Pramod Mahajan, even as it described the kind words spoken by the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, about Rahul as "an expression of feelings of a `dadaji' (paternal grandfather)."

"Party leader Sushma Swaraj has already said what is to be said on this subject by the BJP," party spokesman Prakash Javadekar said. "That is the party view. The Rahul case is a medico-legal one. The law will take its own course."

Asked about the perception that Mr. Vajpayee was more sympathetic to the family of Pramod Mahajan — he had said that mistakes are often made by young people and efforts would be made to set them on the right path — Mr. Javadekar said Mr. Vajpayee had spoken "like a dadaji."

At the informal level, some party leaders let it be known that it would have been best for the Mahajan family had Rahul pleaded guilty to drug abuse and asked for leniency with a promise that he would go to a rehabilitation clinic to help him get over the habit. "But, finally, it was for the family to take a decision as to how it wanted to fight the case," a party leader said.

"Overdose of drugs"

What is clear is that from day one of the incident that led to the death of Bibek Moitra, former secretary to Pramod Mahajan, and nearly killed Rahul, the BJP has been anxious to spread the word that it was an open and shut case of drug abuse and "overdose of drugs." Within a couple of hours of getting to know about the matter on Friday morning, party leaders were speaking in one voice — they had concluded that it was a case of drugs overdose.

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