So Mr Antulay has gone back on his promise to “take the nation into confidence” on his money collection activities as Maharashtra’s chief minister. This was not wholly unanticipated. The day after his announcement on July 30 we, for instance, expressed doubt, though discreetly, that he would in fact go ahead with the press conference which he had announced with so much fanfare within minutes of the Governor’s decision to allow criminal cases to be launched against him in a law court. Mr. Antulay is known to bluff. It was, therefore, only to be expected that he would resort to some gimmick to overcome the embarrassment the Governor’s decision had caused him. Moreover, he was in a bind. He had to do something to keep up the morale of his rapidly dwindling battalions. The announcement of the press conference for August 4 could serve that purpose at least temporarily. Mr. Antulay had another objective in mind. He wanted to create the impression that he possessed evidence to show that he was nothing more than a soldier in Mrs. Gandhi’s army of fund raisers for the party and its leaders. To this end, either directly or through his supporters, he also inspired a campaign of insinuation which did not spare even Mrs. Gandhi. It has to be conceded that this effort has been fairly successful and that the cancellation of the press conference cannot completely negate this success. For, rightly or wrongly, the impression has spread that he has called off the press conference at the request of senior Congress (I) leaders who were afraid that he might expose some of the skeletons in their cupboards. They have themselves to blame for this crisis of confidence. Instead of dealing with him firmly, they have sought to mollycoddle him.
Last week, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, one of the key figures in the legal battle against Mr. Antulay, went on record to say that he would be willing to drop the cases against the former chief minister if the latter made a clean breast of his crimes and exposed the involvement of other Congress (I) leaders in them. For whatever reason, Mr. Antulay has decided not to oblige him. Mr. Jethmalani will in all probability go ahead and file the cases in an appropriate law court in Bombay. He does not have much of a choice in the matter. But basically, the BJP is no longer interested in prosecuting the former chief minister. On the contrary, it is keen to make a deal with him. Some Bombay BJP leaders have hinted that they will be willing to drop the cases even subsequently provided Mr. Antulay is willing to “expose” wrong-doing in high places. This gives Mr. Antulay the power to continue to hold out a threat. This can enable his friends around Mrs. Gandhi to argue in favour of a soft line towards him. But the Prime Minister must know that a soft line can only encourage him to continue to promote dissident activities in the Congress (I) in Maharashtra and elsewhere.