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With the state of Madhya Pradesh gearing up for assembly elections later this year, BJP leaders have caught hold of an old Wikileaks report - claiming that Kamalnath had shared confidential information on India’s atomic bombs, nuclear secrets, with the United States.
The alleged WikiLeaks document dates back to November 1976 and entails documentation of a conversation shared between Consul General Congen Korn and Kamalnath. The report refers to Kamalnath as a close aide of Sanjay Gandhi. It quotes him saying that India is making two more atomic bombs and has plans for one more “peaceful explosion." It further states that Nath made the observation in the context of a discussion of US-India relations.
BJP alleges sharing of Nuclear secrets
Sharing screenshots and quoting from the said report, the BJP leaders alleged that Kamalnath was a traitor. Referring to Kamalnath’s links with China, BJP state chief VD Sharma said that this was not the first time that the president of the Madhya Pradesh Congress has been accused of comprising crucial information about the country.
Pointing out previous allegations of Kamalnath’s involvement in the infamous Sikh riots of 1984, Minister of Medical Education Vishwas Sarang said that considering the serious nature of the Wikileaks allegations are serious and demanded a clarification from the Congress party.
Congress's response
Calling Kamalnath the biggest threat to BJP in the upcoming assembly elections, Congress Committee spokesperson Abbas Hafeez said that the BJP's allegations are baseless and are nothing but a show of the party’s desperation. Hafeez further said that the same allegations had sprung up in 2018 too, just 10 days before the former CM's swearing-in ceremony.
Kamalnath has clarified before that no investigating agency or commission had summoned him during the last 47 years, which makes it clear that there is no truth to the Wikileaks report.
Noteworthy
It is worth noting that in 2011 too, a similar Wikileaks cable surfaced featuring Kamalnath, leading to an uproar in the parliament. Dating back to 2008, the report suggested that the INC brought regional MPs to float through the crucial vote of confidence over the Indo - US Civil Nuclear Agreement, 2008.
While the credibility of the report has not been ascertained yet, it can be safely said that the surfacing of such documents is a common occurrence before elections. The possible influences of such occurrences on public perceptions before elections is a subject that demands scholastic attention.
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