Rajnath Singh's "we are NDA and not UPA" statement an insult to democracy: Anand Sharma

Deputy Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha and former union minister Anand Sharma on Thursday said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement that "No minister accused of impropriety will resign as we are NDA and not UPA" was an insult to democracy and deserved the strongest condemnation.

"This stand has unmasked the true face of the BJP, the hypocrisy of its leadership and the double standards," he said.

"The Home Minister needs to be reminded of the BJP stand on this issue when in Opposition and the parameters of accountability for ministers in office prescribed and demanded by it when in Opposition. The BJP Govt. is rewriting the rule book to protect its guilty and showing no respect for well established parameters of propriety, probity and accountability in public life. The silence of the Prime Minister is an endorsement and makes him complicit. It also makes a mockery of his boastful claims of zero tolerance to corruption and impropriety," said Sharma.

"The Home Minister's statement underscores the arrogance of the BJP Government, its obduracy and confrontational attitude. This will have serious consequences for India's parliamentary democracy. Congress is duty bound to expose the acts of omission and commission of the BJP Govt. and force accountability," he concluded.