'Sonia's name not in Bofors case'

LUCKNOW: Former Union minister Ram Jethmalani, who filed his papers for Lucknow seat on Monday as an independent candidate at the collectorate, said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi did not figure in the Bofors pay-off case and government was dragging her name purely for political purposes.
Accompanied by an impressive crowd at the collectorate, Jethmalani said Rajiv Gandhi was declared "innocent" by the high court and the government should not say dirty things about him.He said the high court in its 26-page judgment had clearly absolved him of all charges.
On his candidature, he said he felt it was his duty to challenge Prime Minister Vajpayee from Lucknow adding that he still had two years to go as a member of Rajya Sabha.
Reacting to criticism by BJP that he was a non-serious candidate, he said his past records did not confirm it.
Jethmalani, who was accompanied by senior Congress leaders like Pramod Tiwari, Akhilesh Das, MP, Achal Mehrotra and others said the Congress was supporting his candidature and the door was open for support from Samajwadi party.
Several cars that accompanied Jethmalani''s procession had Congress party''s flags and portrait of Sonia Gandhi on them.
Swami Agnivesh, an internationally known human rights activist who had expressed his desire to take on Vajpayee if Congress supported his candidature, was present at the court premises.