With the Rajya Sabha witnessing frequent disruption by the Congress, BJP today tore into it over alleged involvement of its leaders in corruption cases and also questioned former Finance Minister P Chidambram's role in 2G scam, raking up recent ED raids at firms linked to his son.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also raised the issue of alleged corruption charges against chief ministers of Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand at a press conference and demanded that Congress take action against these leaders.
Citing a recent notification by the Swiss government, she said it had "reinforced" the charge that Preneet Kaur, a minister in the UPA government, had an undisclosed bank account in Switzerland. Kaur is Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh's wife.
BJP's strong attack indicated that there was still no thaw in the frosty relations between the two parties, hopes of which were raised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought their cooperation for the passage of GST bill.
Sitharaman, however, said she would not "imagine" that the attack on Congress would have a bearing on its stand on the GST bill.
"GST is something which is their (Congress) bill. It is in national interest. If these are becoming an issue because of which Congress party, and I would not imagine that, would not support GST, then it would be a sad day," she said, expressing hope that it would deal with the allegations with "maturity".
Alleging that Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram was linked to firms accused in the 2G scam cases, she said the recent raids by Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate authorities on certain firms allegedly connected to him were "part of larger 2G enquiry".
Chidambaram as the finance minister "allowed" certain money transactions to happen because his son had an "interest" in these firms, she alleged.
Sitharaman, the Commerce and Industry Minister, cited a
number of purported transactions, including one of Rs 40 crore in cash, between firms connected to the 2G scam, as she accused Chidambaram of "allowing" them to happen because his son had an "interest" in some of the companies.
On Chidambaram describing the IT and ED searches as a "malicious onslaught" by the government, Sitharaman said what the agencies were doing was on the basis of "prima facie" evidence they had got.
Raking up the alleged corruption cases involving Congress leaders, she said, "Congress is behaving as if they have not heard even a whisper. It is not one but several instances of corruption where Congress is happily looking the other way. We hope it engages in matters of public importance."
Taking a jibe at the opposition party, she wondered "how hollow its words could be" when it questions the government in Parliament over black money cases.
"There is a pretence that nothing has happened," she said, referring to the allegation of a solar scam accused in Kerala that he had paid Rs 5.1 crore bribe to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
She also attacked Congress over "lack of action" in corruption charges against Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand chief ministers Virbhadra Singh and Harish Rawat respectively.
"I wonder if Congress has any mechanism to check corruption within the party. These are serious allegations involving institutions, constitutional posts... We demand action from Congress. It should answer to these allegations," she said.
Sitharaman said Kaur had been denying that she ever had an account in a Swiss bank but a recent notification issued by the tax authorities there, asking her and her son Raninder Singh to "exercise their right to be heard" reinforce the allegation.
"The so called allegation is getting reinforced not by a leaked document but by a Swiss government notification. Is Congress party seized of it?" she asked.
