Cabinet rejig shows govt not committed to fight corruption: BJP

Accusing the Union government of being directionless and shielding people involved in corruption, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main Opposition, has blamed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for not showing any commitment to fight corruption in the latest Cabinet reshuffle.

Launching a direct attack on PM Manmohan Singh for not taking hard decisions in the Cabinet reshuffle, the BJP leadership believes Singh was earlier under pressure from coalition partners for not taking any action against them and now he was under pressure from UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for not dropping Home Minister P Chidambaram and Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal.

“There are four ministers in the Union government who have corruption allegations against them. People were expecting that P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal would be dropped and action would be taken against another two ministers involved in the Adarsh Housing Society scam, but they continue to be ministers,” said BJP spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.

Hussain alleged P Chidambaram was directly responsible for the 2G spectrum allocation scam because he knowingly deviated from the telecom policy to auction spectrum and had even suggested the Prime Minister to treat 2G spectrum allotment as a closed chapter after licences were given to telecom companies.

Quoting the findings of the joint parliamentary committee, the BJP leader alleged that Chidambaram was responsible for not keeping records of the crucial meeting with former communications minister A Raja on May 29, 2008, after which he had suggested the Prime Minister treat the issue as a closed chapter.

“The Union government has offered no surprises in the Cabinet expansion. The council of ministers remain surrounded with corruption allegations and it has become clear that the government is protecting corrupt and those responsible for corruption,” Hussain added.