The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said it will keep pressing for the ouster of Union ministers Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal. This, it hopes, will eventually pave way for the exit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
law Minister Ashwani Kumar is facing fire for vetting a CBI report on coal block scam, while Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's nephew has been arrested for taking Rs 90 lakh in bribe bribe from a senior railway official.
"We are putting forward this demand on behalf of the people of India. Whether it is Pawan Bansal or Ashwani Kumar, they (Congressmen) are trying to save them, because they know that after their exit, the Prime Minister will be in the direct line of fire," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters at a press conference here on Sunday.
He also slammed the Congress for its "double standard" when it came to allegations of corruption against allies.
"Are there two standards of corruptionIJ One for Congress ministers and another for alliesIJ A Raja (former Telecom Minister and DMK leader) was made to resign and that was the right thing to do, but why does Congress have this double standard," he asked.
launching a direct attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said: "It was said about the Prime Minister that he is a great economist and an honest person. We have seen the state of economy, and why is it that India has become one of the most corrupt countries under his tenureIJ"
"There is no morality left in this Government," he added.
The BJP has been demanding the resignation of law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the Government's interference in a Central Bureau of Investigation report on allocation of coal blocks.