An aggressive BJP on Sunday demanded the immediate resignation of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal for an unbiased investigation into the case of bribery involving his nephew.
Addressing a news conference here, Rajya Sabha member and party Vice President Balbir Punj said Bansal cannot distance himself from this case as the arrested person is not only his nephew but also his political associate and the matter pertains to his ministry.
“He (Bansal) may disown his nephew and disassociate from his act but wasn’t it an issue related to his ministryIJ Punj asked, adding that the bribe was for a choice posting in the Railway Board.“Pawan Bansal should resign from Railway Ministry, only then a free and fair investigation can be expected in the matter,” the BJP leader said.
Punj said Congress has brought the “installment system” in corruption also as it was getting the bribe money divided in installations.
Accusing the Congress of following double standards, he said that had ministers like Bansal and Ashwani Kumar been from the allies, they would have been sacked by the Prime Minister. “The Union UPA government is becoming threat to the security and integrity of the country, this Government should go lock stock and barrel,” Punj said.
lashing out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Punj said that he has proved to be a ‘spine less’. “The neighboring countries (China) have dared to intrude into our territory due to weak government,” he said.
Punj said the policies of UPA Government were responsible for double digit inflation, alleging that decision taken by the Finance Ministry were being taken to National Advisory Council for implementation but members in this ‘Super Cabinet’ of Sonia Gandhi have no stake in the society.
“UPA Government has only brought double digit inflation and corruption. This is achievement of ‘Super Cabinet’ of Sonia Gandhi, known as NAC,” Punj said.
He said to oust the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh and run by a coterie headed by Sonia Gandhi, BJP would use all means available to it under the constitution, in and outside the Parliament.
Punj said, “so far the UPA II had earned the dubious reputation of being the most corrupt Government since independence. But now its continuation for any more time will not only bleed the country white because of corruption and policy paralysis; but will also be a risk to the security and integrity of the country and a danger to the institutions on which the entire edifice of federal and democratic India stands”.
As a result of this “ludicrous alignment” between the PM and the UPA chairperson, the country has witnessed an unprecedented number of scams, estimated to have resulted in a revenue loss of Rs. 6.25 lakh crores to the exchequer. “The Government”, Punj said, “was not interested in bringing to book the culprits. Instead it was arm-twisting CBI to save the guilty, flouting even the directions of the Supreme Court in the process”.
The coal block allocation scam, which cost the country Rs. 1.86 lakh crores (as per CAG findings) took placed when Dr. Manmohan Singh was the minister in charge of Coal ministry. “Nothing could have happened in that ministry, without his knowledge and approval. All the Minister of State for coal, Dasari Narayan Rao, Santhosh Bagrodia and Sri Prakash Jaiswal during this period were not from any coalition partner, but from Congress.