The Congress on Tuesday said CBI DIG M K Sinha's allegations of corruption against senior Government officials in his affidavit to the Supreme Court are the latest episode of a crime thriller "Chowkidar is thief" playing out in Delhi. Congress president Rahul Gandhi again used the "chowkidar" jibe to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi which he has been doing for past many months.
"A crime thriller titled 'Chowkidar is thief' is playing out in Delhi. In the new episode, a CBI DIG has levelled serious charges against a Minister, the NSA, Law Secretary and Cabinet Secretary," the Congress president said on Twitter. "On the other hand, his partner from Gujarat is busy collecting crores...," he added.
The party alleged that Prime Minister as usual has maintained a 'Maun Vrat' on the entire petition. "Officers are tired, trust is broken and democracy is crying," the Congress president said, a day after Sinha dragged the names of several officials, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary and CVC KV Chowdhury, over alleged attempts to interfere in the probe against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana. Asthana has been divested of his duties and sent on leave along with CBI director Alok Verma.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said that a naïve Modi Government which is a master in enforcing the 'Gujarat Model' to deal with bureaucrats, senior officers and treat them as their puppets, did not realise their deliberate denigration in undermining the authority of CBI— would now reach the doorsteps of the Prime Minister.
"The turmoil created by a despotic Modi government within the CBI when reached the Supreme Court, has now unleashed a 'Corruption Tsunami' which has hit the top most powers of the country. The plank of anti-corruption on which the Modi Sarkar came to power lies in tatters. The prima facie inference of Manish Kumar Sinha's affidavit in the Supreme Court points out to a 'Corrupt Cabal' being in-charge of premier institutions like — CBI, NSA, ED, RA&W & the PMO," Singhvi, also a Rajya Sabha member, said.
The party questioned what the PM has to say about a Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, in-charge of the PMO, being involved to "settle" a matter for MOS Haribhai Choudhary. It also asked who was the person in the PMO who "fixed things" for Samant Goel of RA&W, post which CBI officers were transferred in the Midnight Coup.
"There are only two Ministers in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, one the PM himself and then a Minister of State, in either case this is corruption of the highest degree as its at the doorsteps of the PM himself. Ajit Doval in his capacity as NSA has not only interfered in matters such as the Rafale negotiations, but has almost derailed the integrity of the investigation in the CBI. Why is NSA Ajit Doval even involved in this matter? What constitutional or legal authority does he have," queried Singhvi.
"The protracted silence of the current dispensation is an insult to our democracy which mandates a government to be transparent in its dealings. This silence of the BJP, broken only by outlandish blog posts or Press Conferences by their Union Ministers who are in no way connected to the matter at hand, is an affront to the collective intelligence of the nation," Singvi said.
