BJP attacks PM on corruption at national council

"This government is engaging in corruption and is then being brazen about it. Have they got any inner conscience which is needed to continue in office? This is a government of, for and by the corrupt," senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi while moving a political resolution at the BJP National Council here

Slamming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for questioning institutions like Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), it said this is a dangerous trend for democracy and called for overthrowing the present dispensation

"In an unacceptable fashion, the Prime Minister topped up the effort of the Congress spokesperson in attacking a constitutional authority such as the CAG. They attributed political motives to the CAG and maligned the institutions.

"This is totally unacceptable in a democracy and the Congress shall only regret this grave error committed by the Prime Minister himself," Joshi said.

He charged that though Singh is directly responsible for the anomalies in coal block allocations, he has refused to accept it and instead challenged the institutions.

"The biggest regret is that the Prime Minister has said what the CAG claims is wrong and we will challenge it in the PAC," Joshi said, pointing out that the PM had made this statement both inside and outside Parliament.

He wondered what impact this would have on the cabinet ministers and senior officials when they are called by the PAC or indicted by CAG as they may also get encouraged by the Prime Minister's attitude and start questioning these institutions. MORE