Anderson escape: Cong denies Rajiv's role

The Congress party today strongly rejected a former prime ministerial aide PC Alexander's indication that the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had helped Warren Anderson, the CEO of Union Carbide Corp in 1984, escape from the country within days of Bhopal gas tragedy.

The Congress party on Friday strongly rejected a former prime ministerial aide PC Alexander's indication that the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi had helped Warren Anderson, the CEO of Union Carbide Corp in 1984, escape from the country within days of Bhopal gas tragedy.

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Alexander reportedly stated that Gandhi and then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Arjun Singh were directly in touch with each other over the escape of Anderson from the country barely days after the world's biggest industrial disaster in Bhopal Dec 2-3, 1984.

Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan said there "is nothing unusual" in a prime minister and a chief minister being in constant touch with each other.

She said the Group of Ministers for Bhopal gas tragedy would "gather all information and put it before the people".

The GoM is headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram and includes Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers MK Alagiri, Minister for Urban Development Jaipal Reddy, Science and Technology Minister Prithviraj Chauhan and Minister of Housing and Tourism Kumari Selja.