New Delhi, April 24, 2005, Rajat Pandit (TOI)

If the Bofors howitzer made the Rajiv Gandhi government 'scoot' in the 1989 elections, the Congress hopes the Denel anti-material rifles will 'backfire' in the faces of George Fernandes and his allies.

The Army, ironically enough, is quite satisfied with both the weapon systems. While the Bofors gun proved its mettle in the 1999 Kargil conflict, the force was keen to induct another 900 anti-material rifles from Denel - after acquiring 300 such rifles since December 1999 - for their "potent bunker-bursting" capabilities.

But the still-erupting scandal of Denel allegedly paying money to British firm Varas Associates to influence the tender for supplying the rifles to India, during Fernandes' reign as the defence minister, has waylaid all their plans.

After freezing all ongoing negotiations with Denel, defence minister Pranab Mukherjee now apparently wants the CBI to ascertain whether Fernandes and the state-owned South African firm enjoyed a cosy relationship.

A pointer to this, of course, is the previous NDA regime's go-ahead to Denel's participation in the Nalanda factory project to manufacture propellant charges for heavy-calibre artillery ammunition.

And guess who was Denel's main competitor in the Nalanda project: SWS (Swedish Weapon Systems) Defence, the new incarnation of the original Bofors company!

In yet another coincidence, Denel and SWS are in competition - along with Israeli firm Soltam - for the army's Rs 10,000 crore artillery modernisation plan to progressively induct over 1,400 towed, wheeled and tracked self-propelled 155mm 52-calibre guns over the next decade.

Though the towed artillery guns of SWS have outgunned their Denel and Soltam rivals in the three rounds of trials so far, as reported earlier, the South African firm was on the verge of getting the contracts for supplying 280 wheeled and tracked self-propelled guns to India when the UPA government came to office.

With the government now re-tendering these contracts, Denel simply does know whether to 'shoot' or 'scoot'. Already reeling under a financial crisis, the armament company was desperate for a strong dose of privatisation to revive its fortunes.

But the move was cancelled after the South African government could not reach an agreement with the preferred bidder, British Aerospace Systems.

Moreover, Denel CEO Victor Moche, a former member of the African National Congress' armed wing, has now been sacked on financial mismanagement charges.

To top it all, even the South African armed forces have shown some preference of buying weapon systems from other countries like Italy and Germany instead of Denel.

Steady orders from India would definitely help Denel regain lost ground. The new CEO, Shaun Liebenberg, who will take over from June 1, has already announced that Denel will "focus on partnerships" and "capitalise" on government-to-government agreements with countries such as India and Brazil.

But, much like the Bofors' bogey haunted the Indian defence establishment for several years, decision-makers in South Block may now run away from the Denel ghost.