Faridabad: Alleging that the Congress-led UPA government has lost authority to remain in power as it lacks ‘people’s support and vision for development, the BJP on Friday urged the people to remove this “corrupt” government.
The BJP reiterated its demand of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocation.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari addressing the party’s National Council meeting here, said the saffron party has a great role to play in the country’s politics in the coming days.
The party, on the second and last day of the National Council meeting, also adopted a political resolution slamming the Congress-led UPA government on the issues of corruption, ‘political instability’, national security and price rise.
“The UPA government has destroyed the image of India at global level. This Congress-led government is a government for the corrupt, by the corrupt and of the corrupt,” senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said moving the political resolution.
Mr Joshi alleged that the UPA government has lost its mandate to govern due to large scale corruption, scams, internal contradictions and mismanagement in alliance.
He accused the Congress of shielding corruption and attacking constitutional bodies like CAG and PAC when the bodies pointed out corruption in Commonwealth Games, 2G Spectrum and coal blocks allocation. “Having lost every opportunity to govern and lead with policy initiatives, the government in search of a fig-leaf for retaining whatever little that is left for its honour, came out with a slew of administrative decisions calling them reform measures for all those uninitiated to be misled,” Mr Joshi said. He alleged that floodgates of corruption were open in allocation of 142 coal blocks which were allotted to private firms without competitive bidding.
“It is believed that allotments were made to those favourably disposed towards the Congress coffers,” the BJP leader, who is also PAC chairman, added.
The last session of Parliament which was washed on ‘coalgate’ after the CAG, in its report tabled in Parliament, had said the government lost Rs 1.86 lakh crore due to coal blocks allocation without auctioning.
Joshi said the Prime Minister was ‘directly, politically and morally responsible’ for alleged coal scam as he was holding the portfolio between 2004-2009. The CBI has been probing coal blocks allotment since 1993 on the CVC’s reference.
“In the matter of 2G spectrum scam, if the PM was vicariously responsible, in the coal scam he is directly responsible and no one can adopt a double standard on this,” Mr Joshi said.
The BJP leader further stated that the credibility of leadership was “gradually being eroded since the time of the Prime Minister, notwithstanding his assurance to Parliament, failed to act on the Shunglu Committee report on the Commonwealth Games scam.” The BJP leader said the Prime Minister and the Congress party ‘attacked’ the CAG when the watchdog exposed irregularities in coal blocks allocation. (PTI)