New Delhi: The man who knows it all, continues to be silent. Arjun Singh, the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh has refused to answer one key question: who or what allowed Union Carbide CEO Warren Anderson to fly out of Bhopal.
But newspaper reports of the days following the disaster indicate that Arjun Singh may have acted on his own.
The Indian Express, December 9, 1984 "Arjun Singh denied that he had been instructed by New Delhi to release Mr Anderson. Mr Singh, however, accepted that the Prime Minister, who was on an election tour of Madhya Pradesh that day, had been informed of both the arrest and the release of the multi millionaire businessman."
Times of India, December 9, 1984"....Mr Arjun Singh said he had during his overnight stay in the capital briefed Rajiv Gandhi about the circumstances that led to arrest and subsequent release of Warren Anderson."
Dainik Jagran, December 10, 1984 Arjun Singh said he had informed Rajiv Gandhi, at a meeting in New Delhi, about the circumstances of Anderson's arrest and release."
On Friday - while the Congress has issued a categorical denial that Anderson was released at Centre's behest - R K Dhawan, Rajiv Gandhi's personal aide said Arjun Singh should speak out. "It's his (Arjun Singhji's) bounden duty to speak out," said R K Dhawan.
"The Congress party categorically denies that Rajivji had anything to do with the release," said Jayanthi Natarajan.
And the pressure is growing each passing day.
The Congress core group met on Friday to discuss the political fallout of the Bhopal gas tragedy verdict and sources say if Arjun Singh does not speak out, a statement may be issued based on the statements made by Singh at the time of the incident. But clearly everyone's hoping Arjun Singh breaks his silence.