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Journalism of Courage
BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should remove the ‘‘tainted ministers’’ to prove that he is in charge.
‘‘If the Prime Minister wants the country to believe that he is the one in charge, he should prove it by asking the tainted ministers to go,’’ Naidu said at a press conference here.
He said that when the BJP-led government was in power, Vajpayee had asked Sedapatti Muthiah and Buta Singh to resign when they were chargesheeted. But the Congress, which had protested against RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav continuing as Bihar chief minister after he was chargesheeted in the fodder scam, now had him as a minister at the Centre.
Reiterating his party’s opposition to the repeal of POTA, Naidu said the BJP would welcome and support any other stringent legislation if the UPA decided to bring in one.
Citing recent incidents of terror, Naidu said the Government could not afford to leave a vacuum after repealing POTA. If it is only the question of misuse of POTA, the Government can bring necessary amendments to check the misuse, as the law was not brought in merely to deal with law and order situation but is a special law to deal with special situations, the BJP chief said.
Asked about TN Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa opposing the repeal of POTA even while her government dropped POTA cases against Vaiko, he said merely withdrawing one case did not amount to a contradictory stand.
