Thaindian News

By B. I. Saini

New Delhi, Dec 28 (ANI): Faced with its gravest political challenge since it came back to power at the head of the United Progressive Alliance in 2004, the Congress has unveiled a tentative plan to fight the BJP and the Left on the issue of corruption.

The plan outlined at the AICC plenary session in Burari on the outskirts of Delhi last week is a mix of ‘offence is the best part of defence’ and looks reasonable while considering the opponents’ viewpoint.

Both the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in their speeches at the plenary, brought out clearly how they are going to meet the opposition challenge.

Sonia Gandhi unveiled a five-point plan to tackle corruption, which includes action both by party leaders and the government. She sought to give the fight against corruption an institutional character by calling for the fast tracking of corruption cases against politicians and other public servants, abolishing the government’s discretionary powers in allocation of land, transparent auctioning of mining leases and state funding of elections.

Sonia Gandhi also pointed out that while the Congress has been prompt in acting against corrupt elements, the BJP had done nothing against Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, even though he was allegedly involved in allotting government land to kith and kin for a pittance.

Recognising that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being targeted by the opposition, especially the BJP, for turning a blind eye to the wrongdoings by his ministerial colleagues and other people around him, Gandhi came out in his defence solidly. She described as ‘downright despicable’ the BJP attacks on Dr. Manmohan Singh, calling him an “embodiment of sobriety, dignity and integrity.” She praised the Prime Minister for his “unwavering devotion to the progress and prosperity of the nation.”

Remarkably, this was the third time since the opposition launched its campaign for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2-G spectrum allocation and other scams that Gandhi had come out in defence of Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The Prime Minister himself in his speech at the AICC plenary said that he had nothing to hide. He offered to appear before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which is examining the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the 2-G spectrum scam, if the committee wanted to question him. He said that as proof of his bonafides, he would be happy to appear before the PAC if it chooses to ask him to do so, even though there was no precedent for that.

Dr. Manmohan Singh said that he is making the offer because he sincerely believed that like Caesar’s wife, the Prime Minister should be about suspicion. Through the AICC plenary, Dr. Manmohan Singh assured the nation that those against whom evidence is found in the ongoing enquiries into the 2-G spectrum allocation scam and the Commonwealth Games mess would be punished. He said: “No guilty person will be spared - whether he is a political leader or a government official, whichever party he may belong to and howsoever powerful he may be.”

Significantly, there has been a flurry of action by the CBI against those allegedly involved in the 2-G spectrum scam and the CWG irregularities right after the AICC session. Former Telecom Minister A. Raja has been questioned extensively and his residences and other premises searched. The CBI has also carried out raids at the residences and offices of CWG Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi at different places in the country.

While appearing to convey that the Congress and the UPA Government it heads are serious about tackling corruption, the ruling dispensation has also taken steps to reach out to the opposition. Seeking not to be seen as responsible for the deadlock in Parliament during the winter session on the corruption issue, the Manmohan Singh government has offered to hold a special session of Parliament to debate the opposition demand for a JPC probe into the 2-G spectrum allocation scam. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the government is prepared to hold a special session to end the standoff.

But the opposition did not fall for the tactic and rejected it outright. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the opposition does not want a debate on the JPC but wants the government to form a JPC to probe the scam. CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia said that holding a special session of Parliament would be a futile exercise as the opposition is firm on its demand for a JPC.

The BJP had earlier accused the Congress of suffering from a siege mentality. The Congress responded to this at the AICC plenary session with the allegation that while the ruling party had been acting against tainted persons in its fold, the principal opposition party had been ignoring wrongdoing by its leaders.

Actually, the Congress has a reason to suffer from a siege mentality. The opposition parties have locked on to corruption as the issue to pull the rug from under the feet of the party leading the ruling coalition. Within one and a half years of its victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has been forced to go on the defensive. What is particularly worrying for the party is that its key allies have also started sabre-rattling, sensing an opportunity to gain at the cost of the national party.