Silence of Rahul, Sonia, Manmohan reason for all scams: BJP

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Referring to the Adarsh Housing Society scam, senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said that the reason for all scams in India is the silence of top leaders of ruling Congress party. "The silence of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh is the reason for all the scams in India," Ravi Shankar said. "Rahul Gandhi keeps saying he passed a law, but is silent on the Adarsh Society Scam, why? He should be questioned on this issue. He has been talking a lot about honesty these days," he added. Prasad further said, "We were the ones who passed the Lokpal Bill and the RTI act and Rahul Gandhi is taking credit for that." Referring to BJP`s good work in the north-eastern states, Prasad added, "We have had a good performance in North East, we promise development in North East." The Adarsh Society was originally meant to be a six-storey housing facility for Kargil war heroes and war widows. It was, however, converted into a 100-metre-tall building and apartments in it were allocated to serving bureaucrats, senior army commanders and relatives of senior politicians. Maharashtra government had yesterday rejected the report of the judicial commission of inquiry on the Adarsh scam it tabled in the Legislative Assembly, which indicted several politicians including four former Chief Ministers of Congress for "blatant violations" of statutory provisions. Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan was among 13 people charged by CBI earlier on July 4 in the multi-crore Adarsh Housing scam. The 10,000-page CBI chargesheet was filed before the registrar of a session`s court; nearly 18 months after the agency registered a case. The Adarsh scam had fuelled a political storm in Maharashtra leading to the resignation of Chavan as the chief minister. The CBI had registered a case on January 29 last year against Chavan and others, which included bureaucrats and retired army personnel. As per the official inquiry report, those who were found ineligible for ownership of flats included former Maharashtra Assembly speaker Babasaheb Kupekar of NCP, senior Indian diplomat in US Devyani Khobragade, former Shiv Sena MP Suresh Prabhu and three relatives of former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who had to step down after the scam surfaced. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha also took a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and said "passing bills and enacting laws are not enough. They have to be implemented". Referring to former President Rajendra Prasad`s remarks that enacting law is not enough but implementing them is, he said, "Rahul patted himself in Parliament saying the House would be extended to enable passing all bills. But passing bills and enacting laws are not enough. They have to be implemented." When the Congress was so keen to pass laws, why it was "silent" on 2G, Coalgate and Adarsh scams in the winter session of Parliament? he asked. "I had written to the Speaker on the JPC report and wanted to put my points in the House. But I was not allowed... And in an unprecedented act the ruling members obstructed functioning of the House, which was adjourned two days before its scheduled date. But Rahul Gandhi remained silent on the 2G and other scams," Sinha said. With PTI inputs