The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday demanded Defence Minister A K Antony's resignation, upping the ante against the government over the controversy surrounding the army chief's allegation that he was offered a bribe for the clearance of Tatra truck contracts.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Rajya Sabha, BJP leader Prakash Javadekar asked whether the minister was patronising corruption as no action has been taken against anybody though a probe was ordered two years ago.
He rejected Antony's contention that he did not act on the army chief's information on bribe offer in the absence of any written complaint and claimed that a written complaint did exist.
"If the probe in Tatra trucks is continuing from 2009 to 2011, if it has not been completed in two years, then this government and this defence minister are trying to cover up corruption. If you are patronising corruption, you have no right to remain in power. The defence minister should resign," Javadekar said.
The BJP leader told the House that Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had written a letter to the defence minister two years ago demanding a probe into the matter. Azad was not present in the House.
He said the defence ministry had informed Azad that the probe was going on. He demanded that the contents of the findings be made public. Javadekar also demanded to know what action had been taken into the matter and who were found guilty.
