BJP attacks PM on corruption at national council

Targeting the prime minister, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday accused him of leading his party and government in attacking and subverting constitutional institutions in a bid to shield corruption and demanded a probe by Supreme Court appointed SIT into coal blocks issue.

"This government is engaging in corruption and is then being brazen about it. Have they got any inner conscience which is needed to continue in office? This is a government of, for and by the corrupt," senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi while moving a political resolution at the BJP 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.