Garb of secularism, press freedom can't cover up illegal deeds: BJP

Urging political parties not to politicise every investigation carried out by the central agencies, the BJP on Wednesday said illegal practices cannot be covered up with the garb of secularism and freedom of press.

"BJP urges the political parties not to politicise every investigation in the name of secularism, freedom of press or other such arguments. Investigative agencies do their work independently and they should be allowed to do so.

"Illegal practices cannot be covered up with the garb of secularism and press freedom and should be answered properly," Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference here.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader's remarks came in the wake of government's criticism by the opposition parties over recent raids on top opposition leaders by central agencies, which they termed as "political vendetta".

The premises of two top opposition leaders, Congress's P. Chidambaram and Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Lalu Prasad, were on May 16 searched by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax Department officials.

"Instead of opposing the public welfare measures, particularly the measures to curb black money and corruption, the political parties need to build a consensus in support," Goyal said.

"We would expect from political parties to support the initiatives of Narendra Modi government to put an end to corruption and black money," he added.

He took on the opposition parties for opposing demonetisation, transparency in political funding and action against black money and corruption.

"It seems that some political parties suffered losses and faced difficulty with demonetisation while the whole country supported it. This was evident from the recent election results.

"It is also evident why certain political parties has taken such an anti-government stand when the entire nation has welcomed these moves of the government," he said.

Stating that the BJP maintains the highest standard of probity and accountability in electoral process by submitting its account details to the Election Commission (EC) and the IT Department, Goyal urged all political parties to follow such standards.

"We are surprised that crores of rupees were spent on hiring aircraft or helicopters, crores of rupees were spent on publicity, crores of rupees were spent in purchasing flags and other equipment for the party, but those spends are not accounted in the accounts of these parties.

"In fact, we would urge the all political parties to follow the example set by BJP. All the money is accounted in our accounts and audit reports submitted to the IT Department and the EC," Goyal added.

--IANS

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