Cong's poll win a setback for Rajiv killers 

Chennai, May 21 . The Congress returning to power at the Centre has not only upset the applecart of the BJP, but also that of the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, even as Nalini, an accused in the case, sent a congratulatory message to Congress President Sonia Gandhi on coming to power.

Nalini, who had greeted Ms Gandhi after the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, sent a congratulatory message to the Congress leader on UPA returning to power, Mr Elangovan, counsel for the accused, told UNI.

The accused, including Nalini, had expressed happiness after the Congress came to power at the Centre in 2004. But now, they were upset as they have lost hope that the party would help their early release.

After Ms Gandhi pardoned Nalini and helped to commute her death sentence to life, the accused in the Rajiv case pinned their hopes on the Congress for their early release after the party came to power in 2004. But, they could not get any relief.

There was a ray of hope after Ms Priyanka Vadra, daughter of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, called on Nalini at the Vellore Central Prison, where she is serving sentence. But, the visit ended in an anti-climax, with Ms Vadra stating that she was nobody to pardon Nalini.

The accused serving detention in the Vellore prison were Nalini, her husband Sriharan alias Murugan, Perarivalan, Santhan, Jayakumar, Robert Payas and Ravichandran.

While three of them - Sriharan, Perarivalan and Santhan - were awarded death sentence, others, including Nalini, who were originally awarded capital punishment, but later commuted to life, were serving life imprisonment.

When the Congress came to power in 2004, some of the family members of Nalini and Perarivalan believed that Ms Gandhi would help to facilitate the early release of their wards. As there was no sign of their early release in the last five years, the accused and their family members had lost hope now.

The UPA Government is all set to be sworn in on May 22, a day after the death anniversary of Mr Gandhi, for the second successive term.