BJP attacks PM on corruption at national council

Slamming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for questioning institutions like Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC),it said this is a dangerous trend for democracy and called for overthrowing the present dispensation

“In an unacceptable fashion,the Prime Minister topped up the effort of the Congress spokesperson in attacking a constitutional authority such as the CAG.”

They attributed political motives to the CAG and maligned the institutions.

“This is totally unacceptable in a democracy and the Congress shall only regret this grave error committed by the Prime Minister himself,” Joshi said.

He charged that though Singh is directly responsible for the anomalies in coal block allocations,he has refused to accept it and instead challenged the institutions.

“The biggest regret is that the Prime Minister has said what the CAG claims is wrong and we will challenge it in the PAC,” Joshi said,pointing out that the PM had made this statement both inside and outside Parliament.

He wondered what impact this would have on the Cabinet ministers and senior officials when they are called by the PAC or indicted by CAG as they may also get encouraged by the Prime Minister’s attitude and start questioning these institutions.

BJP insisted that the administrative and financial accountability of every government has to be fixed in a democracy.

The party alleged that “corporate lobbyists had decided who would be given which cabinet portfolio”.

“If institutions are finished in this manner it would endanger democracy… This is a dangerous trend. Where are we headed?” Joshi said.

The party also questioned the absence of any code of conduct for the presidential and vice-presidential elections and maintained that special packages given by the Centre to the states to garner support for its candidates in such polls should be stopped.

BJP demanded cancellation of all the 142 coal block allocations and a probe by a Supreme Court appointed Special investigation Team (SIT) into the Rs 1.86 Lakh Crore scam.

The party also expressed serious concern over the desecration of the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial in Mumbai by a crowd of protesters,the ethnic violence in Assam,communal riots in Uttar Pradesh since SP came to power.

Senior party leader Rajnath Singh objected to the Prime Minister’s earlier statement that Muslims have the first right to the country’s resources,saying resources cannot be allocated on basis of caste and religion.

He drew attention to the attacks on sarpanches in Jammu and Kashmir,encroachment of land on the Bangladesh border,giving citizenship to Hindu refugees from Pakistan,among other issues.

BJP tries to woo Muslims under its ‘NDA Plus’ plan

Keen to win more allies,BJP,which has been identified with the Hindutva tag,on Friday decided to strive for an “imaginative reprojection” of its “commitment to secularism�� and reassured minority community that it does not support discrimination on basis of religion.

L K Advani,while delivering the valedictory address at the party National Council Meet,insisted that as the anti-Congress constituency is rapidly expanding,the NDA should gain from it and transform itself into “NDA Plus”.

“This involves reassuring our potential allies that they have nothing to be apprehensive about partnering with the BJP. This requires an imaginative re-projection of our commitment to secularism,” Advani said.

In his written text of his valedictory speech,Advani maintained that BJP needs to reassure the minority community that “we brook no discrimination or injustice in dealing with different sections of our diverse society”.

Interestingly,Advani in his speech condemned the controversial film deemed offensive to Islam which has sparked protests but did not read out this part of the written text like BJP president Nitin Gadkari,who skipped it in his inaugural address at the National Council

“I would like to refer to an important issue that is agitating the minds of Muslims in India and elsewhere…. A controversial film on Islam,which is highly derogatory to Prophet Mohammed,is circulating on the Internet.

“I strongly condemn it. It is against our ethos to accept defamation of prophets and saints,who are revered by any faith,” Advani said.

Advani suggested that BJP should formulate a common minimum agenda to bring others to the “NDA Plus” fold.

He said this can be called “Common National Commitment to Good Governance”.

When Gadkari had taken over as BJP president nearly three years ago,he had given a call for wooing certain sections of the society to increase the party votebank by 10 per cent to defeat the Congress. Reaching out to Muslims was a part of this project.