PM presiding over 'most corrupt government': BJP

From Rakesh Mohan Chaturvedi
Lucknow, June 3 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
national executive Friday accused Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh of presiding over the "most corrupt government"
since independence, saying it has lost all moral authority to
rule.
The issue of corruption in Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) dominated the first day of the BJP
meet here with the party training its guns on Singh and UPA
chairperson Sonia Gandhi for looking the other way and keeping
mum while the 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh scams
were taking place.
BJP passed a strongly-worded resolution on corruption
in which it patted its back for the arrest of former Indian
Telecom Minister A Raja and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK)
MP Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
"It is evident that Manmohan Singh presides over the
most corrupt government since independence. It lacks
transparency, there is collusion at high level, no checks and
balances and there is virtual collapse of system where scam
after scam and scandal after scandal has become the order of
the day," the party said in its resolution.
The document, moved by general secretary Ananth
Kumar, also indicts Gandhi for not taking timely action.
"The Prime Minister maintained a 'conspiracy of
silence', 'culpability of inaction', and 'guilty of gross
indifference' when nation's wealth was being plundered by the
then Minister right under his nose by a massive abuse of
system and yet Manmohan Singh looked the other way. The
silence of all powerful Sonia Gandhi was too conspicuous," BJP
said.
The opposition party also mocked at the UPA-II pledge
after it completed two years in office that it was serious
about fighting corruption.
"Nothing could be more ironical as this hollow
declaration was being made in the backdrop of one of the own
erstwhile Ministerial colleague, a senior Congress Member of
Parliament and the daughter of the leader of an important
constituent of the UPA detained in Tihar Jail on serious
charges of massive corruption," the party said.
It was referring to A Raja, CWG Organising Committee
chief Suresh Kalmadi and DMK chief M Karunanidhi's daughter
Kanimozhi being in jail on charges of corruption.
This resolution has come at a time when Baba Ramdev
has cornered the government with his threat of a mass hunger
strike and former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran is battling
charges of his family-owned Sun Direct TV benefitting from
pay-offs in 2G spectrum.
BJP has openly supported Ramdev's demands and even
maintained that the issue of bringing Indian black money
stashed abroad was first raised by its senior leader L K
Advani during the 2009 Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian
Parliament) elections.
"When the issue was highlighted by the BJP
Parliamentary Leader L K Advani in the last Lok Sabha
elections it was called an election stunt by Congress," the
BJP resolution said.
It has criticised the UPA-II government of failing to
keep its promise of bringing back black money within 100 days
of coming to power.
The Rs 1.76 lakh crore scam involving allocation of
2G spectrum figured prominently in the resolution.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee Chairperson
Murli Manohar Joshi alleged that it was Maran who had
triggered the 2G spectrum scam as he ensured that the powers
of the Group of Ministers were transferred to his ministry
when he was the Telecom Minister in UPA-I.
Joshi, and other BJP leaders, have charged - on the
basis of a recent report by a magazine - that Maran had
favoured a Malayasian company Maxis Communication.
This company had bought 74 per cent share in Aircel
and reportedly in lieu of that Maxis invested more than Rs 600
Crore in Sun Direct TV which is owned by Maran's family.
The BJP in its resolution highlighted Commonwealth
Games anomalies, appointment of P J Thomas as CVC despite a
corruption case pending against him, Adarsh Housing Society
scam which saw Ashok Chavan stepping down as Maharashtra chief
minister, and the Antrix-ISRO deal.
The Antrix deal, in which the Department of Space
held directly by the Prime Minister, came in for special
criticism.
"When confronted with gross irregularity his reply
was the same as usual, he did not know about it or was not
told about it. It seems odd and curious that alibi of lack of
knowledge has become the constant theme whenever he is
confronted with any irregularity.
"Manmohan Singh should we presume that you don’t do
any monitoring or, you are in the habit of looking the other
way, whenever any wrong or corruption takes place," the
resolution said.
The proposed Lokpal Bill, aimed at prompt punishment
to the corrupt officials and politicians, also figured in
deliberations. The party made public its president Nitin
Gadkari's reply to Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Mukherjee had written to BJP, other political parties
and chief ministers of states to give their suggestions for
the proposed legislation. The Finance Minister is part of the
government-civil society drafting committee looking into the
matter.
While batting strongly for the need for such a body
to combat graft, BJP made it clear that it would not be
"proper for parties and parliamentarians to submit opinions to
civil society groups for acceptance or rejection.
(Reopens Del 107)
"Expecting political parties to give their views to a
drafting committee comprising of civil society representatives
for acceptance or otherwise would be upsetting the
constitutional propriety where parties, parliamentarians and
the Parliament have the last word.
They are the decision-makers and not suggestion
givers," Gadkari said in his reply to Mukherjee.
Earlier, in his inaugural address to the two-day
conclave, Gadkari emphasised on BJP fighting for a
corruption-free India.
"It has been our long cherished dream as also a
solemn commitment to make India free from terror, hunger and
corruption," he said.
He stated that a national Judicial Commission should
be set-up to deal with appointment of judges and to look into
complaints of their misdimeanours.
The party, which has of late been plagued by luring
away of its legislators in Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir, also
reiterated that there should be open voting at election of
Legislative Council members.
In J & K, seven of its 11 MLAs had voted for
candidates from other parties, allegedly after payment of
bribe.
Land Acquisition, which has been a dominant issue due
to the Bhatta Parsaul controversy in Greater Noida and in
Chandauli area near Varanasi, was also mentioned by Gadkari.
He said farmers should be paid compensation which is
above the market price of their land, annuity or equity should
be paid to them, one member of each such family should be
employed, adequate share of developed land should be given
back to land owners and there should be proper relief and
rehabilitation of those affected by land acquisition.
During the day long session, Joshi made a
presentation on the recent problems in Public Accounts
Committee (PAC) when the Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
and Samajwadi Party (SP) members had opposed presentation of
the report on 2G scam.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha (upper house of
Indian Parliament) Arun Jaitley spoke on how the proposed
Communal Violence Bill is against the majority community as it
states that communal riots would never be initiated by the
minority community.