New Delhi, Sept. 27: The chimes they are a-tollin’ — not from political ivory towers but from unsparing courtrooms. Until the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment last year disqualifying MPs and MLAs instantly on conviction for some offences, it had been up to the political leadership to decide whether a chief minister in crisis would survive or face the axe. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi used varying yardsticks — largely influenced by their comfort levels and power equations — to sack or retain satraps caught up in scandals or controversies. How Nehru judged a tainted chief minister was on display between 1952 and 1964 when Punjab chief minister Partap Singh Kairon got sucked into controversies. Till his death, Nehru, who admired Kairon’s vision of a fruit-laden Punjab with mile upon mile of oranges, grapes and peaches like those the chief minister had seen in California, repeatedly exonerated the Punjab politician. Nehru eventually set up a commission of inquiry in 1963. Once the committee filed its report, Kairon resigned. By then, Nehru had passed away. Nehru’s successor Lal Bahadur Shastri was expected to be even-handed. As Prime Minister, Shastri displayed zero tolerance towards those indicted by government agencies. Biren Mitra, the only Bengali chief minister of what was then Orissa, had to go when the CBI indicted him. But Shastri protected S. Nijalingappa and K.B. Sahay, who were seen as his supporters, when controversies swirled around them. Congress old-timers feel both Nehru and Shastri were “liberal” in accommodating “diversities”. But the veterans conceded that they made selective use of federal authority to maintain their hegemony. The Indira era saw Congress chief ministers having little control over their careers. Indira chose chief ministers on the basis of their loyalty towards her. A.R. Antulay was chief minister of Maharashtra when a scam relating to the purchase of cement was unearthed. Antulay was then busy bringing back from the UK the “sword of Bhawani” that reportedly belonged to Chhattrapati Shivaji. Using diplomatic channels, Antulay had managed an appointment with the Queen in May 1982 but he had to take the exit door in February as the burden of the cement scandal became unbearable. Antulay’s successor was a lesser-known Babasaheb Bhosale. Lore is that Indira’s pen screeched to a halt on a line in a dossier that mentioned he was the son-in-law of a Rajya Sabha member who had remained loyal to Indira during the 1969 Congress split. Between 1985 and 1989, Rajiv created a record of sorts by changing 22 chief ministers. When the Churhat lottery scam undermined Arjun Singh’s position as chief minister, Rajiv dispatched his minister Buta Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad to Bhopal. Arjun resisted the Delhi order to step down but relented when Buta reportedly showed him some classified files. Although lacking in stature, P.V. Narasimha Rao, too, used his political authority to secure resignations of party chief ministers. In November 1992, Rao summoned S. Bangarappa, asking him to resign in the wake of a report submitted by the CBI that looked into corruption charges. Bangrappa resigned and subsequently changed parties till he was acquitted by a court after 18 long years. His son Madhu alleges that Rao was influenced by M. Veerappa Moily and Margaret Alva to hand over the probe to the CBI. I.K. Gujral and the rest of the United Front had to sweat while making Lalu Prasad resign as chief minister of Bihar following the fodder scam. Lalu resigned but made his wife Rabri Devi the chief minister. Like Shastri, Sonia, too, tried to give an impression of being even-handed. But her handling of the tainted left a lot to be desired. Ashok Chavan was made to resign in connection with the Adarsh scam even though his name did not figure in the FIR. Sonia insisted that public perception mattered most. However, the yardstick was waived in case of Vir Bhadra Singh, who survived as chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. | 
