Castigating both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for nominating Adarsh scam-tainted former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan as their party’s candidate from Nanded, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said that his Government would set up special courts to try and complete all cases of serious crime pending against elected representatives — irrespective of their political affiliations — within one year.
On a day when he trained guns at Rahul for going back on his promise of not “compromising” on corruption and on Sonia for justifying her party’s decision to field Chavan as its candidate for the lok Sabha polls from Nanded, Modi vowed to “punish” all those behind the Adarsh Housing Society scam and to set up special courts to enforce strictly the Supreme Court’s recent directive to complete the trial proceedings of all MPs and MlAs with serious cases of corruption and crime pending against them within one year.
Alluding indirectly to the apex court’s directive that all the trial proceedings against elected representatives facing cases of corruption and serious crimes be completed within one year, Modi said that as part of its commitment to cleansing political process in the country, his Government would, through special courts, do “justice” to all “tainted” MlAs and MPs — irrespective of party affiliation — within one year.
“It does not matter even if the cleansing process would call for fresh elections. Such an action would mean cleansing the entire political system in one go…All those facing trumped up charges against them will be let off, while those politicians who have indulged in corruption, goondaism or violence will spend the rest of their lives behind bars. In this, I will not discriminate between anyone. The politicians concerned might be from the ruling party or the Opposition,” Modi said.
“If we go ahead and cleanse the political process on a mass scale, then a time would come when political parties would not need to make compromises in ticket distribution during polls,” he said. Modi, who has been under attack from Rahul in election rallies for “patronising corrupt and tainted politicians” like BS Yeddyurappa and three Ministers in his own Cabinet in Gujarat, chose Chavan’s home constituency of Nanded in Marathwada region, to get back at both the Congress vice-president and his mother Sonia on their “doublespeak” on tainted politicians.
Amidst chants of “Modi”, Modi,” the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate invoked his famous “Shahzade” barb to rubbish Rahul on the issue of the Congress giving a party ticket to Chavan to contest the lok Sabha polls from Nanded. “Shahzade, please give an answer to the nation. Stop pulling wool over people’s eyes. When he addressed a Press conference in New Delhi, did he not say that he would not compromise on corruptionIJ Did he say that or notIJ Did he not say that action would be taken against ChavanIJ Does taking action mean giving party ticket to contest the pollsIJ” Modi asked sarcastically as the crowds replied in the affirmative to all his questions.
Without taking Sonia’s name, Modi also lashed out at the Congress president by saying: “look at their shamelessness! A Congress leader justified the party’s decision to give ticket to Chavan by saying that no law bars him from contesting the polls. This is the legal yardstick of the Congress. They give tickets to such candidates. All I can say is that the Congress party is full of such “Adarsh” (ideal) candidates”.
“We have seen scams and resignations of politicians in the aftermath. But, have you ever seen politicians stooping to the level of looting the widows of martyrs in Kargil WarIJ. The question is not about one building in Mumbai. It is also not about giving flats to near and dear ones. But, the issue at hand is the attitude of the Congress towards the Indian Army. The issue is that Congress people do not hesitate to snatch away things from the widows of soldiers who sacrificed their lives to the country,” Modi elaborated.
“On this holy land of Guru Gobind, I take a vow that the new Government will not spare all those who have looted the family members of Kargil War martyrs,” Modi said, as a large gathering of his supporters shouted vociferously in approval of his statement. Modi’s assurance to the crowds was in the context of the much-discussed Adarsh housing society scam, involving a 31-story building at Colaba in South Mumbai whose apartments were intended for war veterans and widows, but were allegedly grabbed by politicians, Defence officers and bureaucrats.
Chavan was one of the 13 accused named by the CBI in its charge-sheet filed before a special court in the Adarsh scam case. Chavan was also indicted by a two-member judicial commission, which had indicted him for giving sanctions and clearances as a quid pro quo to the flats he allotted to his family members. Modi, who addressed rallies at Akola, Amravati and Nanded during his whirlwind tour of Maharashtra, reiterated his promise of bringing back the black money stashed away from foreign banks.
“This money will be used for the people. The salaried people who pay their taxes honestly to the Government will also be given a small share of the proceeds of the black money that will be brought back by my Government from abroad,” he said. While addressing election rallies at Akola and Amravati, Modi said that the forthcoming lok Sabha elections were a fight for good governance. “After May 16, the people of the country can safely expect good governance at the Centre.”
Hitting out at Rahul for his comment that the Gujarat model balloon would burst after the polls, Modi said that all the Opposition parties had ganged up as one entity against him and were baying for his defeat. “If they are having sleepless nights now… if they are getting incurably anxious now, it is because all these politicians in the Opposition camp know that they would be nowhere after May 16 ( when the counting of lok Sabha poll votes will take place),” Modi said.