By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded to know which Congress minister accompanied then Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson when he fled Bhopal and went to the US four days after the Bhopal gas leak.
“We want to know who was the minister who accompanied Anderson when he fled from Bhopal (after the gas leak tragedy),” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.
Javadekar alleged that Anderson’s escape from Bhopal was made possible “with the help of the government”.
“We want to know why the Congress helped him to escape,” he said.
The BJP leader said asked the Congress to “aplogise to the nation” after it has become “known” that the party had helped Anderson to escape.
Javadekar said it was all done under pressure from the US and asked: “Why do we always succumb to US pressure. The Congress governments have always helped US companies.”
Anderson, the main accused in the 1984 chemical disaster that has killed an estimated 20,000 people, is in the US and a proclaimed offender in India.
The spokesperson said the US-based Union Carbide was running many units under Dow Chemicals and alleged that Minister of Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath “helped them in investing in India”.
“We want to know how he (Kamal Nath) helped the culprits in their investment,” he said.
The BJP termed as “mere eyewash” the government’s decision to revive a group of ministers to pursue outstanding issues relating to compensation and rehabilitation of victims, survivors and the next of kin.
“We should press for Anderson’s extradition. When the pressure began building, the Congress decided to go for this mere eyewash to revive the group of ministers,” Javadekar said.