New Delhi: Dismissing L K Advani's criticism
of UPA government on corruption, Congress on Sunday dubbed his
yatra as a mere "lip service" and an attempt by him to remain
"afloat" in his party.
"Merely taking out so-called anti-corruption yatra is
nothing but lip service...this is nothing but grand preaching
without a millimetre of practice," Congress spokesperson
Abhishek Singhvi said, reacting to Advani's remarks at the
conclusion of his yatra against corruption today.
Accusing the government of lacking political will to fight
graft, Advani said the only route to end corruption is through
public awakening or a change of government.
He also said "the fog around India's politics will not
go automatically. It will go only by public awakening or by
the change of government."
Singhvi said Advani cannot escape the "inconvenient truth"
that concrete anti-corruption measures have been taken not by
the BJP but the Congress.
He cited dual tax avoidance agreement, RTI, bill on
judicial accountability and the proposed public procurement
policy as measures to tackle corruption.
He described Advani's yatra as "nothing but an attempt
by him to stay afloat and remain relevant in his own party and
keep dreaming of his personal agenda and ambitions."
Singhvi also rejected Leader of Opposition in the Rajya
Sabha Arun Jaitley's attack on the Congress on the
cash-for-vote scam.
"Till now the only evidence is against BJP MPs and not a
shred of evidence is available against Congress," he said
asking BJP not to prematurely become "self congratulatory" as
only the two former MPs' bail applications have been decided
and case was yet to be determined.
BJP had felicitated its former party MPs who were released
on bail in cash-for-vote case, saying they were
"whistle-blowers", a claimed mocked by Congress.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 20, 2011, 18:39