The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday asked civil society activists not to reply to every charge levelled against them by the Congress saying it was a "trap". However, it asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify whether he wanted the top post to be included under the ambit of the Lokpal.
"We would advise civil society activists not give clarifications to all charges made against them by the Congress. This is a trap. People have faith in you. Go ahead with your work," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
He maintained that Congress leaders, who, he alleged, were neck-deep in corruption, have no moral right to pose these questions to civil society activists.
Hazare and Ramdev, among others, have faced charges of being Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh agents by some Congress leaders. Congress leaders have accused Hazare of causing instability, while Ramdev was also called a "thug" by party general secretary Digvijay Singh. Charges of financial irregularities were also leveled against Ramdev.
BJP had made strong objections to Digvijay Singh's statement, it used his suggestion that the prime minister should be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal to ask Manmohan Singh to clarify his position on the issue.
"It is for the Congress to decide whether a senior leader of the party should be leashed or not. A slugfest is on in the Congress on including the prime minister in the ambit of the Lokpal. A senior Congress leader has said prime minister should be in the ambit. Prime minister should issue a clarification on whether he is in agreement," Rudy said.
Hazare has also written a letter to the prime minister suggesting that his office should be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal.
Asked if the BJP was in agreement with demands made by social activists like Hazare and Ramdev on corruption and black money, Rudy said his party had flagged these issues even before these activists did so.
"The issue is more important than the individual," Rudy said. BJP also took digs at Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for his comments against Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.
"Till now we understood that the responsibility of issuing weird statements from the Congress was given to a general secretary. Whether this was speaking against the RSS, Anna Hazare or Ramdev. But now we find that Pranab Mukherjee- whom we consider to be a very seasoned politician- is charging BJP of fomenting trouble across the country," Rudy said. He insisted that this shows the "growing desperation" within the Congress.
"In his statement on Sunday, Mukherjee has admitted that there is an Emergency-like situation in the country. This vindicates the BJP stand.... Congress sees Hazare, Ramdev and BJP as playing the role of opposition," Rudy said.
He maintained that Mukherjee's statement has given a new momentum and boost to BJP's campaign against corruption and added more credibility to it.
BJP claimed anger is "brewing" against the Congress across the country due to growing cases of corruption.
