BJP raps Cong for double standards on corruption
As the Congress drew flaks for fielding Adarsh scam tainted Ashok Chavan as its candidate from Nanded in Maharashtra, Congress president Sonia Gandhi defended the decision while the BJP questioned the Congress duplicity on corruption.
Brushing aside criticism over giving a party ticket to the former Maharashtra Chief Minister, Sonia said he was “not debarred” from contesting polls.
“The decision was taken by the Central Elections Committee. As far as we know, Chavan is not barred from contesting elections by any law,” Sonia said, addressing a press conference after the release of the Congress election manifesto at AICC headquarters.
The question was directed to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi about the contradiction between his tearing up the Ordinance on convicted lawmakers and raising anti-corruption issues publicly, and giving a ticket to ‘tainted’ Ashok Chavan. Sonia “pitched” in saying that she would answer the question (on Ashok Chavan).
Chavan had quit as Chief Minister in 2010 after his name surfaced in the Adarsh Housing scam. late last year, when the State Government rejected an enquiry report that had indicted Chavan, Rahul intervened to force the State Cabinet to reconsider the Commission’s decision.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley slammed the Congress for fielding “tainted” Chavan and former Railway Minister Pavan Bansal. “The Congress party has decided to field Ashok Chavan, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, who is tainted in the Adarsh scam, as its candidate from Nanded. The Commission of Inquiry appointed to probe the Adarsh scam had indicted Ashok Chavan. The CBI wanted a prosecution to be filed against him,” Jaitley said in his campaign diary.
He said the State Governor’s refusal to give sanction to prosecute Chavan was a politically motivated decision “to save the declining fortunes of the Congress in Maharashtra.”
Citing another instance, the BJP leader said the Congress had already fielded Pavan Bansal, who resigned from the Government after the Railway Board scam, from Chandigarh.
“The CBI investigation into the whole case raises many questions. The family and staff members of the former Railway Minister were selling Railway Board jobs and yet it is claimed the CBI was unaware of the Minister’s link. If the CBI had applied even a fraction of the standards which they used against BJP leaders of Gujarat and Rajasthan the case against Bansal was an open and shut case,” said Jaitley.
Similarly, he said the campaign in Himachal Pradesh is being led by Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh, who is under CBI investigation.
“Coming back to the emphasis on probity, the candidate Congress has fielded against me in Amritsar is a charge-sheeted politician. The charge sheet against Captain Amarinder Singh is pending in ludhiana and the prosecution is on,” said Jaitley.