By: Sanjay Kapoor
First published: 10 June 04, TODAY

A strange disquiet has descended on the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). There have been rumblings from the new Congress-led coalition government that it might probe some of the big-ticket defence and civilian deals that were made under the NDA.

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes, who has long faced allegations of malfeasance in the purchase of coffins from the United States and other deals, challenged the government to find even a shred of evidence of corruption during his tenure.

Soon after, another political heavyweight, Mr Amar Singh, cautioned the government against pursuing a witch hunt. Mr Singh noted that the politics of vendetta was the nemesis of many past leaders.

Mr Singh's stout defence of Mr Fernandes - the two are on opposing sides of the political divide - took the political sphere by surprise. The head of Mr Singh's party, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, is a former defence minister, and the feeling among some observers was that there were ulterior motives behind Mr Singh's anti-Congress stance.

Mr Singh, who has a reputation for being a dupe for special interests, had in the past cautioned the government against laying charges against a large corporation in a dubious drug case.

The Congress government's refusal to go along with Mr Singh has led to rumours that the authorities plan to target five or six top ministers in the earlier government and put certain deals under the microscope.

Based on past precedent, the new government is unlikely to look into all past deals as doing so might scare off investors. However, they could single out a high-visibility contract and make an example of it.

The Congress-led coalition cannot afford to give the impression of being vengeful. For this reason, the finance ministry is going slow in taking action against brokers who manipulated the stock market after the old government was voted out.

At the time, the stock market lost 500 points, the most precipitous drop in India's history. The Congress party had threatened to despatch the police to uncover those responsible, but since then they have had a rethink. Finance ministry sources said there were four major brokers that ignited the meltdown, but that it was reluctant to take action for fear of further destabilising the market.

While the new government must tread carefully in dealing with any questionable financial dealings, it is likely to move quickly to unravel certain mysteries surrounding the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Hinduttva (Hinduist) agenda.

An investigation of the train fire at Godhra railway station and the killing of Muslims in Gujarat in its wake likely tops the Congress party's list of priorities.

On Feb 27, 2002, a fire in a train coach carrying Hindu supporters of the BJP killed 56 people. The riots that followed left 3,000 Muslims dead. A commission of enquiry is looking into the matter, but some people feel the truth will stay hidden as long as the state remains under the control of BJP chief minister Narendra Modi.

Many Muslim leaders argue that the perceived persecution of members of the Muslim community was state-sponsored. They further accuse Mr Modi of trying to use the communal consolidation that occurred in the wake of the massacre to his advantage in the election. Recent Supreme Court judgements have deepened this impression.

Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav tried to get to the bottom of the Godhra incident. Upon taking office, he reportedly had his officials give him the "Godhra file" in hopes of finding out whether the railway was trying to hide something.

At the time of the Godhra incident, the railway seemed reluctant to release the list of passengers on the ill-fated train. New revelations suggest that the authorities may have doctored some of the early messages that were sent to the headquarters.

The new government would like to know what, if anything, the BJP was up to at the time. However, the big question is: Can it handle the truth?