Congress slams ex-CAG Vinod Rai

The Congress Sunday slammed former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai for saying that he was "pressurised" by the erstwhile UPA government to drop certain names from his report.

Congress leader Manish Tewari questioned why Rai did not make the revelations while he was in office.

"Rai Sahib allegedly says he was holding a constitutional position hence the silence? Was it not incumbent on him since he was holding a constitutional position to speak out if he was being ostensibly pressurised to do or not to do his duty in a particular manner," Tewari said.

The Congress leader, in a tweet, invited Rai for a debate on "sensationalism that formed the staple of his tenure".

Rai told a newspaper Saturday that United Progressive Alliance (UPA) functionaries had sent certain politicians to him who demanded that he not include certain names in his reports on the coalgate and Commonwealth Games scams.

Rai seconded the allegations made by former prime minister Manmohan Singh's media advisor Sanjay Baru and former union minister Natwar Singh, who both wrote in their memoirs that Manmohan Singh did not wield real power in the UPA government.