New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) Signalling its intention to target Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G spectrum allocation issue in the second half of budget session starting Monday, the NDA Saturday questioned the “leak” of the JPC’s draft report and called on panel members to reject its report.
The meeting of floor leaders of National Development Alliance (NDA) parties, held at senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani’s residence, also decided to target the government over alleged interference in the functioning of Central Bureau of Investigation in coal allocation controversy, rise in rape cases in Delhi, border security and alleged corruption.
A statement issued after the meeting referred to the draft report of joint parlimamentary committee (JPC) and said it condemned the manner in which former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was sought to be charged with knowingly having caused losses to the exchequer. It termed as “perverse” accusation of wrongdoing against NDA ministers in spectrum allocation.
The NDA accused Manmohan Singh of presiding over the “most corrupt government since Independence”.
“Timidity, uncertainty, loss of direction and unmatched absence of leadership characterises the conduct of the present prime minister, who sits atop the most corrupt government since Independence, behaving as if he sees nothing, hears nothing and thus supinely does nothing despite the loud ringing of the alarm bell of mounting chaos,” the statement said.
It said a draft on the 2G scandal has been circulated “but first to select journalists” and only later to members of the JPC.
“This is tantamount to relegating the parliament’s position to an irrelevancy, also violating the confidentiality of its reports,” the statement said.
It asked why former communications minister A. Raja, an accused in the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, was “not permitted” to appear before JPC despite his repeated requests and demands from members.
The NDA said the government should tell how the prime minister and Finance Minister P.Chidambaram had been exonerated, without questioning and without examination by the JPC.
“How possibly can a minister of the cabinet ‘mislead the Prime Minister’? Where does the collective responsibility of a government lie? Who actually has drafted this purported report of the JPC – the chairman or some proxy of the UPA,” the statement said.
The NDA said that former ministers like Arun Shourie and Jaswant Singh were “recognized for their unimpeachable integrity” and accusing them of “wrong doing can only be termed as perverse”, noting the two had been quizzed by the CBI and no fault found.
“The NDA, therefore appeals to all the members of JPC to reject this report in toto,” it said.
“The NDA calls upon the citizens of India to rise against the accumulated wrongs of the UPA, against all their misdeeds and to root them out of office,” the statement said.
Expressing concern at the state of nation “under the continuing misdeeds” of diarchal leadership of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, the NDA said it had resulted in “drift, gross maladministration and rampant corruption” in the UPA government.
Referring to the rape of a five-year old girl in the capital, it accused the government of sitting “idly by as unspeakable crimes of the most heinous kind get repeated with sickening frequency”.
On the reports of Chinese incursions in Ladakh, the statement said that the borders in the west and east “were breached with impunity.”
It also accused Defence Minister A.K. Antony of failing to check corruption in defence deals.
The second part of budget session starts April 22 and ends May 10.
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