BJP not interested in halting corruption: Congress

Chennai: Union Minister V Narayanasamy on Monday charged the BJP with not being interested in halting corruption as it had not supported the passage of an amendment Bill to the Prevention of Corruption Act in Parliament.

"As the principal opposition party, the BJP should have supported the anti-corruption [amendment] bill... But it did not...I feel the party is not interested in stymieing corruption," the Minister of State in PMO told reporters here. Stating that the Judicial Accountability Bill and The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill were also scuttled, he alleged that the BJP was now posing obstacles for the ordinance route as well. On the fishermen`s issue, he expressed the hope that the proposed second round of talks between fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka on March 13 would be fruitful. To another question, he said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may meet Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa "only on the sidelines" of the BIMSTEC summit at Mayanmar and not exclusively. Singh left for the Myanmarese capital Nay Pyi-Taw today to attend the summit, making a strong push to intensify collective efforts to combat security challenges and enhancing connectivity and trade in the region.