Stepping up its attack against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the BJP today announced it would move a privilege motion against him alleging that he had “misled” Parliament by claiming that the panel on the July 2008 cash-for-vote controversy had found no evidence of bribery.
Minutes after the PM spoke on the the WikiLeaks cable, the BJP — being denied the opportunity to seek clarifications in both Houses — said that the PM’s statement on the Parliamentary committee’s findings was “completely at variance with truth.”
“(It) flies in the face of what the majority of the members in the committee had said...There cannot be a more clear contradiction between the Prime Minister’s statement and the committee’s report,” Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.
Incidentally, the committee had concluded: “In cases where the facts are confounding and no clear picture is emerging without further detailed investigation, it would be in the fitness of things if such cases are inquired in to by the concerned and appropriate investigating agencies.”
Jaitley’s counterpart in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that Singh was the “biggest and the primary beneficiary of bribery,” and asked for a CBI probe into the cash-for-vote episode.
She said that the Prime Minister’s logic that the bribery charges were rejected by the people — in a reference to the election victory — meant that criminals would claim exoneration if they win an election.
She said that the very first recommendation of the parliamentary panel was that the episode may be further probed by an “appropriate” investigating agency.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal slammed Jaitley’s charge against the Rajya Sabha chairman for not allowing him to question the PM after his statement.
“No part of the Prime Minister’s statement related to finding of the Parliamentary committee on cash-for-votes scam is incorrect,” Bansal said. “Jaitley’s remarks are unbecoming of a person of his stature given his intellect and legal acumen.”
Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari had cited a July 24, 1987 ruling by the then chairperson R Venkatraman to deny Jaitley an opportunity to seek a clarification from the Prime Minister.
“Prime Minister is answerable and accountable to Parliament... He cannot shield behind the unprecedented ruling you (Chairman) are bringing,” Jaitley said.
“Even on March 11, Minister of State for External Affairs, Preneet Kaur made a statement on Somali pirates and clarifications were not offered by the government. In fact, even yesterday no clarifications were allowed when Pranab Mukherjee made a statement regarding I-T notice to Gujarat government seeking details of MoUs signed during the Vibrant Gujarat conclave,” Bansal said.
No comments:
Post a Comment