Patna: Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Friday received praise from Satya Pal Malik, who was appointed as Bihar governor by the BJP-led NDA government last year.

Malik described the former Prime Minister as an honest and innocent leader, and said that it was not Rajiv Gandhi but his colleagues in the Congress party who were involved in the Bofors scam.

Malik was speaking at a function organised by the labour resource department on skill development and vocational education. "Rajiv Gandhi was an honest person," Malik said. "But he was surrounded by sycophants who were the main people behind the Bofors scam. His only fault was that he tried to save his colleagues."

The governor, who is often known for saying from his mind, said: "I will not name but there were three to four people who were close to him who suggested him to create assets abroad as many world leaders at that time were doing. Most of people who benefited from the Bofors scam were other than the Gandhi-Nehru family. Rajiv's only fault was that he tried to save such people with compulsion."

Malik, a former BJP functionary from western Uttar Pradesh, was appointed as Bihar governor after his predecessor Ram Nath Kovind was made the President. The BJP had used the Bofors scam as a tool to attack the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family. After the collapse of the Rajiv Gandhi-led government in 1989, the BJP used the Bofors deal to attack the Congress. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) this year wanted to reopen the case and the Delhi court will hear a plea on July 30.

The governor's statement may sound unpleasant to BJP leaders, but the state Congress leadership has welcomed Malik's statement. State Congress spokesperson and party MLC Prem Chandra Mishra said: "I welcome the statement. But at the same time, the governor saying that people around Rajiv were involved in the Bofors scam is unwanted and not true. The CBI and the court have already given a clean chit on the Bofors scam. The governor's statement is an attempt to twist the matter."

Sources said that this is not for the first time that governor has made such statement.

Recently, he had commented that opening of private colleges providing bachelor of education (BEd) degree has become a thriving business in state. The governor last month while attending a function at AN College had said that hardly there will be any politicians in the state who does not own a BEd college in the state.