The BJP on Thursday attacked the Congress for the alleged involvement of its leaders in corruption cases by questioning former Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s role in 2G scam, raking up recent Enforcement Directorate’s raids at firms linked to his son as also citing a recent notification by the Swiss Government against another Congress leader Preneet Kaur.
In the backdrop of Congress’s attempt to disrupt proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, the BJP has apparently stepped up the offensive on the Opposition party.
Addressing a Press conference here, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also raised alleged corruption charges against Chief Ministers of Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — all Congress ruled — and demanded that the party take action against their 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.
The raising of scale of its attack against the Congress after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed ways to pass the GST in Rajya Sabha (where BJP is in minority vis-à-vis the Congress) indicated reemergence of some fault lines.
The Opposition has stalled proceedings over Union Minister VK Singh’s dog’s analogy and over the issue of caste raised by Congress leader Kumari Selja.
Sitharaman, however, maintained that she would not “imagine” that the BJP’s 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, 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”.