Sonia Gandhi benefited the most from Rajiv Gandhi's killing: Swamy

Swamy alleged that the leniency given to the killers of Rajiv Gandhi give rise to suspicions about the latter's assassination.

Taking a strong exception to Rahul Gandhi's statement that he had "forgiven" the killers of their father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Monday asked why the Gandhi family was "showing such sympathy". Swamy alleged that the leniency is given to the killers of Rajiv Gandhi give rise to suspicions about the latter's assassination.

Rahul had on Saturday said that he and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had "completely" forgiven their father's killers as they found it difficult to hate people.

Swamy launched a scathing attack on Rahul and said that the Congress president's statement showed "lack of patriotism".

"He (Rajiv) was a true nationalist, and those responsible for killing him in the prime of his life should be shown no leniency. Initially, Nalini, one of the killers, was awarded a death sentence, but this was reduced to life imprisonment. I fail to understand why we should be lenient towards someone who collaborated with foreigners to kill our former Prime Minister. Rahul's statement lack patriotism; he should understand that the punishment was awarded to the killers of the former Prime Minister, not his father," Swamy told news agency ANI.

Swamy also reportedly demanded a probe into the matter and hinted that there could be some "understanding" with the LTTE, the group which claimed responsibility for Rajiv Gandhi's assassination.

"Why did Priyanka (Gandhi) visit the convicts in jail; only the relatives of convicts are allowed to visit them, which she is not. Furthermore, Sonia (Gandhi) took care of Nalini's daughter's education in England. Nalini was also awarded a scholarship to study computer science in the Indira Gandhi University. I don't understand why they are showing such sympathy. I suspect there is something wrong," he added.

Rajiv Gandhi was blown up by an LTTE woman suicide bomber at an election rally near Chennai in 1991.

Rahul, during an interaction with alumni of the Indian Institutes of Management in Singapore, went on to say that his family "knew" that his father and grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, were "going to die" by virtue of being in politics and trying to bring about change.

OneIndia News