Lucknow: Union Minister of State for
Communication Sachin Pilot on Friday said BJP has no moral right
to speak on corruption as it had buckled under pressure in the
case of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who
continues to hold office despite facing graft charges.
"BJP has no moral right to talk about corruption as it
had buckled under pressure and asked Yeddyurappa to continue
as Karnataka Chief Minister even though graft charges have
been proved against him," Pilot told reporters here.
Accusing BJP of following double standards, he said, "By
asking Yeddyurappa to continue, BJP has institutionalised
corruption."
On 2G spectrum scam, Pilot said, "Agencies are probing
the whole issue and CAG had also submitted its report."
When asked why the government was not conceding to the
opposition's demand of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe
into the 2G scam, he said, "Once the CAG report is tabled in
the house, it is debated and then referred to Public Accounts
Committee. BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi is the chairman of
the PAC. He should look into the CAG report and make
recommendation. What is the need of breaking this series?"
"We are in favour of having a debate over the CAG report
in the Parliament, but the opposition should allow the House
to proceed," he said.
Pilot alleged central funds are not reaching the real
beneficiaries in Uttar Pradesh.
"There is complete maladministration and plundering in
UP. There is no account of where the funds being provided by
the Centre are going and one thing is sure that the benefit is
not reaching the villages," he said.
On whether Rahul's charm failed in Bihar with Congress
failing to put up a good show in this year's state Assembly
elections, Pilot said, "This is completely wrong. Though we
wanted to win more seats, but also we knew we were not in a
position to form the government. Moreover after a long gap,
the party decided to go on its own in Bihar."
Congress won only four seats in the election, which is
five seats less than what it had got last time.
The party had won nine and 10 seats respectively in
November 2005 and February 2005 assembly elections in the
state when it had allied with Lalu Prasad's RJD and Ram Vilas
Paswan's LJP respectively.
It had got 23 seats in the 2000 assembly elections in
undivided Bihar, when it had contested alone. Out of this, 12
had gone to Jharkhand after the bifurcation of the state,
leaving the Congress strength in Bihar to 11.
PTI
First Published: Friday, November 26, 2010, 20:41