Govt. comes under attack over scams

PTI

New Delhi, 09 November 2010: The Opposition in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday took the government to task over various scams including allocation of 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh housing, and said the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was “not enough”.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Basudeb Acharia, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav demanded thorough probe into the scams as well as a statement from the government, saying it was a matter of concern that so many “major scams” had taken place in the past three-four years.

“The entire nation has been ashamed. Though he (Mr. Chavan) has resigned, mere quitting the post of Chief Minister is not enough. An independent probe (into the Adarsh Housing Society scam) is required. The government owes an explanation to the people,” said Mr. Acharia and sought punishment to all those found guilty, including the “political bosses“.

Agreeing with the CPI(M) leader, Ms. Swaraj said apart from the scams mentioned by him, there were “major scandals” even in the government’s flagship programmes like national rural employment guarantee scheme and highways projects.

As her speech was repeatedly disrupted by members from the Treasury benches, an angry Ms. Swaraj asked, “Can’t we raise the issue of corruption even in the House? If the House is not being allowed to function, it is not the Opposition but the ruling party, which is to be blamed.”

In response, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal urged the Leader of the Opposition “not to be so sensitive” and assured her that the issues she raised would be debated and the government was ready for discussion.

Mr. Yadav also demanded a full-fledged debate on the scandals, saying “corruption was spreading in all spheres of our lives, like blood in our veins”. He claimed that the CWG scam involved as high as Rs. 70,000 crore to Rs. 90,000 crore.

Congress member Suresh Kalmadi, who is chairman of the Organising Committee of the CWG, was not present in the House when the issue was raised. Mr. Kalmadi’s resignation as Congress Parliamentary Party Secretary was accepted by party chief Sonia Gandhi shortly before the start of the Winter Session.

When Mr. Yadav spoke of the Adarsh housing scandal in Maharashtra and said the land for the project belonged to the Defence department and was meant for the widows of Kargil martyrs, Congress members were on their feet saying “why don’t you talk of the Kargil coffin scam.”

To this, Mr. Yadav said the coffin scam was investigated “but what came out? You will not accept Joint Parliamentary Committee (probe)... and the confidence on the CBI is also waning.”

The Left parties had moved an adjournment motion on the corruption issue as other Opposition parties said they would raise issues including rotting food grains and problems in Kashmir during this session.