Jayalalitha disproves alleged links with Rajiv Gandhi's assassins

Former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha Jayaram on Friday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the on-raging 'photo-controversy' in the state, wherein a photograph which claims to link her with Rajiv Gandhi's assassins was published in a section of the press.

Producing evidence that it was not Dhanu and Sivarasan -- Gandhi's Tamil Tiger assassins -- with her in the photograph as the captions claimed, Jayalalitha said the action was a 'diabolical conspiracy' by certain 'political bigwigs' to throw the Jain Commission inquiry off track.

At a crowded press meeting at her Paes Garden residence, Jayalalitha introduced the 'Dhanu' and 'Sivarasan' in the controversial photograph -- they were two Hosur-based party advocates, Dhakshayani and Nanje Gowdar.

She alleged that certain political personalities including Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi were finding it difficult to answer questions before the Jain Commission, and were trying to implicate her by foul means. She has sent legal notices to the Indian Express and Dinamani and Junior Vikatan for publishing the photograph with insinuating captions.

The photograph, Jayalalitha said, was taken sometime in February 1988. ''I am sure about the month, as Pappa Subramaniam, who was later expelled from our party (the All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam) appears in the photograph," she said, "What I want to know is how the photograph made it to the press." .

The conspirators, Jayalalitha said, had probably not counted on her being able to find Dhakshayani and Nanje Gowdar. "They have had their try, but their devious efforts have fallen flat," she said.

Dismissing the explanation trotted out by the newspapers concerned that there was a lot of similarity between the two advocates and the Tamil assassins as a bit too 'lame', Jayalalitha announced that the AIADMK would hold public meetings state-wide to highlight this "conspiracy" against her.

Political sources say that a third-line AIADMK leader, belonging to Jayalalitha's rival faction, had been offering journalists certain 'controversial photos' for over two months now. Two years earlier, another party leader, too, had offered similar photographs.

Though it is not known whether the published photographs originated from either of these sources, the motives for its publication appear clear. With the Jain Commission inquiry reaching a crucial stage, and the prosecution exhausting its list of witnesses, the photograph, besides discrediting Jayalalaitha, would give more weightage to the 'conspiracy angle'.

''If there was any truth in the event, why wasn't the picture offered earlier when the Jain Commission started its inquiry? Why wasn't it given to the special investigation team probing the conspiracy angle? Or even the TADA court in Madras? " asks AIADMK sources.

Senior AIADMK leaders, meanwhile, are discussing whether the issue should be raised in the Rajya Sabha.

N Sathiya Moorthy, UNI