Thaindian News

Bareilly, Aug 25 (IANS) Flaying the Congress party and its general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who is also her late husband’s nephew, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi accused the party of being “neck deep in corruption to which Rahul Gandhi has always remained a mute spectator”.

She was responding to Anna Hazare supporters who climbed on to the dais from where she was addressing a public meeting in her constituency, Aonla, about 30 km from here.

Asked to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the all important issue of corruption, she shot back: “Well, what can he say when his whole party is thoroughly corrupt.” She went on to ask: “Has he ever opened his mouth on the issue of corruption?”

Declaring her whole-hearted support to Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill, she said: “I am strongly of the view that the Jan Lokpal bill be adopted by parliament.”

Earlier, Hazare supporters told her that they would continue to extend their support to her only if she supports the Jan Lokpal bill.

Her son Varun Gandhi, a BJP MP from neighbouring Pilibhit parliamentary constituency, has tabled the Jan Lokpal bill as a private member’s bill in parliament and also visited Hazare’s fast venue of Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.

Replying to another question about former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s name figuring in the Wikileaks list of those allegedly with huge amounts of money in Swiss banks, Maneka Gandhi remarked: “Well, it is really shameful that the government has failed to do anything to retrieve the tonnes of India’s black money that is parked in Swiss banks; I see no reason why all that money cannot be brought back to the country.”