I have done no wrong, says Ashwani Kumar

Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, forced to tender his resignation late last night, today said he had done no wrong. In a conference, he said, “My conscience remains clear and I believe I will stand vindicated.”

Kumar’s assertion “no adverse comments have been made against me” by the Supreme Court caused the Opposition BJP to question whether he had been made scapegoat to shield the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Kumar said he had resigned following the “unnecessary controversy” after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) admitted before the court it had shared the coalgate probe status report with the law minister.  

Kumar’s resignation came minutes after Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s resignation over alleged corruption charges. Refusing to answer questions if it was “unfair” he was meted out the same treatment as Bansal, Kumar said, “It is a prerogative of the prime minister to ask his colleagues when and how to resign,” he said. Adding, “There are certain political decisions that are considered necessary.”

As BJP President Rajnath Singh said today, “The heart of the (CBI) report was changed. We want to know from Ashwani Kumar in whose defence he was making the changes. He should tell us why he had to become the scapegoat. Whom was he trying to save and to protect whom he had to resign”.     

Refuting charges his resignation was an indication Congress President Sonia Gandhi had lost confidence in him, Kumar said, “I do not think I have lost the support of any leader.”

Kumar claimed he had been “unfairly treated by the media” and the apex court judgment on May 8 had passed no strictures against him.  

A week back, Kumar had, according to senior Congress leaders, “squarely blamed the party for not backing him”, and asked for a meeting of spokespersons to explain his stand. In the meeting that followed, where 12 spokespersons and party leaders were present, Kumar tried to defend claiming he had been made “collateral damage”.

To this all present, including cabinet ministers, said, “You are the damage. Not the collateral damage.”