Congress protected corrupt DMK ministers, says Prasad

Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad today took a swipe at the DMK-Congress alliance for the May 16 Assembly polls, alleging that several DMK ministers in the earlier regime were involved in corruption and that the then Congress-led UPA had protected them.
"Two communications ministers from Tamil Nadu, in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government, A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran, were involved in scams like 2G Spectrum, which brought disgrace to the entire country," he said here.
"DMK ministers were involved in corruption and Congress was protecting them. Now both DMK and Congress have entered into an alliance (in the state)," he added.

Criticising ruling AIADMK, he said the entire country was aware of how corruption has grown in the state under it.
The time has now come for people to think of the future and the only ray of hope was BJP, he said.
He cited the example of the party run government at the Centre, which he claimed has given a corruption-free government, 7.5 per cent national growth and said this could also be brought about in Tamil Nadu if the party was voted to power.

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Prasad termed the concern of Congress for Scheduled Castes as "hypocritical and full of double standards" and sought to know why party vice-president Rahul Gandhi had not visited the house of a Dalit girl who was raped and murdered in Kerala and that of a youth, who was shot dead by an MLC's son in Bihar.

"Why did Rahul, who visited Hyderabad University twice after the suicide of a Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, fail to visit Kerala, where a girl was brutally raped and murdered?" he asked.
"Similarly, he never uttered a word or made it a point to visit the house of Aditya, who was shot dead by the son of an MLC for overtaking his car, in Bihar," Prasad said.
"This shows that the concern of Congress is hypocritical and full of double standards, as Rahul Gandhi used to travel the nook and corner in other states," he said.
On the resignation of Raju Sahu from SFI, he said it was clear from the confession of Sahu that Congress and Left parties had "used" students to their political advantage.

On Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh's alleged involvement in the Agusta Westland deal, he said Singh had given clarifications and investigations were on.
Referring to the May 16 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, the Union Minister claimed there was a strong desire among people for a change and that BJP would make its presence felt in the polls.
Unlike DMK and AIADMK who are corrupt, BJP would provide good, honest and transparent governance as it was doing in nine states and also at the Centre, he said.