NEW DELHI: The dramatic release of former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson just hours after his arrest has roiled Congress, sparking a bitter factional war which threatens to claim former PM Rajiv Gandhi as its collateral victim.

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday stunned party circles by virtually holding the Centre responsible for the controversial decision to let off Anderson, soon after he was arrested for the death of thousands from the poisonous gas leak from Union Carbide's Bhopal plant.

"The whole case was dealt with by the government of India and the Supreme Court. State government hardly had any role to play in this case," Singh said in a text message he sent to reporters here from the US. In another text message to reporters, he desisted from fixing the blame. Singh wrote, "I was campaigning during that period therefore I don't know. But I am sure it must have been under US pressure."

However, read along with his other message, even the second message appeared to point the finger towards the Centre. More so, because with a strong PM like Rajiv Gandhi around, Americans could not have dealt directly with the state government.

Singh's remarks were seen as rebutting the statement of CWC member Satyavrat Chaturvedi on Wednesday that Arjun Singh, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh at the time of the leak, needed to explain Anderson's abrupt release. Rajiv Gandhi was the PM at the time of the Bhopal tragedy.

A gleeful BJP pounced on the fratricidal slugfest, demanding an apology from Congress for giving "safe passage" to Anderson.

The unrolling episode also dragged Arjun Singh into the spotlight after a long spell on the sidelines. The ailing leader, who was passed over by the leadership for important positions, met Sonia Gandhi on Thursday evening. This was his second meeting with the Congress chief since a court verdict handed paltry punishments to those held guilty for the gas leak.

The bickering has factional dyanmics. Like Arjun and Digvijay, Chaturvedi is also from Madhya Pradesh and has a long history of strained equations with the two Thakurs. Unlike Digvijay and Arjun, whose ties have ebbed and flowed, Chaturvedi has been consistent about his feelings.

With their fight threatening to bring the Rajiv Gandhi government under a cloud, the leadership stepped in to do some firefighting, though without much success. Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters, "The party has always maintained that all issues that have been raised especially in situations of human tragedy must be answered properly and responsibility should be fixed."

However, Dwivedi's efforts did not seem like they were succeeding, with many swiftly interpreting his statement as endorsing Chaturvedi's demand for an explanation from Arjun. By evening, there was a spate of statements, with even Arjun defending himself through journalist Santosh Bhartiya.

Arjun, who has been accused of transporting Anderson to New Delhi on an MP government plane, told Bhartiya that he wanted to steer clear of joining the blame game, asserting that his focus at the time was on securing life and property of citizens.

Some have-beens jumped into the ring. Vasant Sathe, former minister who has fallen out of the leadership's favour, appeared on several channels to say that Madhya Pradesh government took the decision at the Centre's instance. Buta Singh, chairman of the Scheduled Castes Commission and Union home minister at the time of the tragedy, was quoted by channels blaming the state government. Just like Sathe, Singh has also fallen from the leadership's grace.

Congress's rivals were not content with watching the sparring from the sidelines. Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh tried to bait Arjun into disclosing the name of the person who allegedly asked him to set Anderson free. "The people of Bhopal and, indeed all of Madhya Pradesh, have a right to this information from their distinguished chief minister of the time. On their behalf, I write this letter to urge you not to hold back the truth any longer," wrote the BJP chief minister.

The use of honorific" distinguished" for a political rival showed that the Thakur was back into circulation.

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