BJP hits at PM with corruption barb, demands his resignation

The BJP demanded the resignation of prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday over charges of corruption in his government.

“Prime minister, in a way, directly or indirectly, gave his approval. Therefore, he should take moral responsibility and quit. It is the right thing to do and also good for him,” BJP president Nitin Gadkari said.

Gadkari said pricing in the spectrum allocation was kept out of a discussion by the group of ministers. “Raja’s letter has appeared in the media, which says it all. The prime minister, therefore, has no moral right to continue,” he added.

Gadkari said nine ministers in the UPA government were party to the Commonwealth Games scam and the probe should be widened to nail all of them.

“Who spent the money? How can expenditure finances committee, group of ministers, cabinet subcommittee, cabinet and PMO approve all estimates. There are nine ministers of the UPA government who took different decisions. Therefore, they should also be enquired into. Besides IOA chairman Suresh Kalmadi, all decision-makers should be probed,” Gadkari said.

BJP president said that to be associated with the Commonwealth Games, a person needed to have experience in the Olympics or Commonwealth Games but those who bagged contracts had no such expertise.

“Around Rs980 crore was spent on Nehru stadium while the actual expenditure could only have been Rs100 to Rs150 crore,” Gadkari said. However, the BJP president cautioned against making Kalmadi a scapegoat to close the probe.

“All bosses of Kalmadi who took the decisions should also be brought into CBI’s enquiry net,” he said.

Later, addressing a rally in Jammu, he also raised the issue of Afzal Guru saying Congressmen were unhappy when remarks were made about the parliament attack convict.

“I want to know why Guru has not been hanged. Congress is playing vote-bank politics,” he said.

BJP parliamentary party chairman and former deputy prime minister LK Advani said there were seven tainted ministers in Singh’s cabinet.