Congress hits out against Modi for ‘encouraging, shielding’ corruption

Bitterness between the BJP and the principal opposition party Congress was evident in the exchange between party spokespersons on the eve of the monsoon session.

While the BJP levelled fresh charges of corruption against the Congress, the latter responded with a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contemptuously describing his one year in government as a “sound and light show”.

The Congress fielded former Union Minister Kapil Sibal who directly targeted the Prime Minister for “encouraging and shielding” corruption. “He said that he will be a

chowkidar (guard) against corruption. Now he has become a chowkidar of the corrupt. On Vyapam, the scams in Chhattisgarh as well as what is happening on Lalitgate, they say no action will be taken… Ram Raj has become Bhrasht Raj,” said Sibal.

“What has happened to his claim of ‘

nakhaunga na khaane doonga (I won’t make money nor will I allow others to do it)?’ The slogan now seems to be ‘ khud ka to pata nahin, apno ko khaane doonga ’ (I don’t know about myself. But I will allow my people to make money)’. For a person who claimed he will be sparkling clean, eight out of 21 ministers who were sworn in the first time as Union Ministers had criminal records ranging from murder, criminal intimidation to waging war against the State,” Sibal quipped.

Seeks CBI probe To a question about the BJP demanding a CBI probe into the involvement of former Chief Minister of Goa Digambar Kamat following revelations in a US Justice Department report, Sibal said: “The Prime Minister claims to be a friend of Barack (a reference to Modi referring to the US President Barack Obama by his first name). He should ask him to release all the documents. We would welcome a CBI probe provided the probe also covers what is going on in Chhattisgarh as well.”

After Lalitgate and Vyapam, a multi-crore PDS scam in Chhattigarh is the Congress’s next big target. The party’s state unit is already demanding the Chief Minister Raman Singh’s resignation. At the national level, senior Congress leaders believe Chhattisgarh is a “neutron bomb” that will shake the ruling party. Besides corruption and Modi’s Pakistan and China policy which Sibal mocked as “reflecting absolutely no thinking”, he raised the issue of the RSS’ interference in educational institutions.