New Delhi: Congress today hailed the process
within the party which "prima facie found facts" against
Shashi Tharoor in the IPL controversy, leading to his
resignation from the Council of Ministers.
"There was no attempt to avoid the issue, brush it under
the carpet. The Prime Minister arrived on Saturday and within
a day there were a series of meetings. There was no knee jerk
reaction. There was a mature effort to address the problem,"
party spokesman, Abhishek Singhvi, told reporters here.
He said it was a "considered and reasoned" process which
led to Tharoor`s resignation. The spokesman referred to the
statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (that he will look
into the facts) and said the Congress President looked into
the issue along with two members of the party`s core group.
Asked whether Tharoor was found guilty in the process and
asked to resign, Singhvi said it was not a judicial process
where anybody can be pronounced guilty or innocent.
"A bonafide process has taken place and prima facie, on
grounds of morality, an action has been taken," he said.
Singhvi said, "You have prima facie facts. A holistic
view has been taken. This is not to indicate guilty or
innocent. We could have compounded the issue in
technicalities".
Attacking the BJP for saying it took so long to take a
decision, the Congress leader said the charge of the party was
"laughable and completely untrue".
"Look at the totality of the picture. Congress has always
stood for probity, responsible and responsive government. It
has not taken refuge in any process. This is in complete
contrast to the BJP," he said.
The spokesman referred to the Tehelka issue involving the
then Defence Minister George Fernandes who, he said, did not
even offer to resign.
"BJP took refuge in denials, commissions of inquiry. The
principle opposition party which is in preaching mode
overlooked its own backyard in Karnataka," he pointed out.
Noting that a Cabinet minister in Karnataka was in the
headlines for corruption, which is known as the "Bellary
issue", he said, news reports have pointed towards a "daylight
robbery" going on there.
He said the response of BJP President Nitin Gadkari,
senior leader L K Advani and the Leader of Opposition in both
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha (over the Bellary mines issue) has
been "golden silence".
"They talk of commissions of enquiry and judicial
process. This is a classic case of politics of hypocrisy,
practice of preaching what you never practice and double
standards," he said.
-PTI
