PM is a 'witness' in corruption cases, says TDP chief
Hyderabad, June 2 (IANS) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu Thursday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become a "witness" in the corruption scandals involving his United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Addressing a news conference, he termed Singh a "weak prime minister" and said it is because of his inefficiency that one scandal after the other is taking place.
"(Former minister A.) Raja, (DMK MP) Kanimozhi, (Congress MP Suresh) Kalmadi and now (union minister) Dayanidi Maran. We don’t know how many more leaders of the ruling coalition are involved,” said the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister.
Declaring his support to the proposed indefinite fast by yoga guru Baba Ramdev against corruption and black money, Naidu said instead of acting tough on the corrupt, the government was trying to convince Ramdev not to go on fast.
Naidu, the leader of opposition in the state assembly, also accused the UPA government of trying to weaken the committee on drafting the Lokpal bill by abdicating its responsibility in tackling corruption.
The TDP chief said the corruption scandals and huge amount of black money stashed in foreign banks posed a threat to the national security.
He reminded Manmohan Singh of his promise after coming to power that the government would bring back black money.
“He has now come with an excuse of international agreements. Was he not aware of such pacts then?” asked Naidu.
Naidu said the TDP would continue its anti-corruption fight till the government agrees to bring special legislation and constitute special courts to confiscate corruption money and to punish the guilty.
Naidu, who spoke to Baba Ramdev over phone and expressed solidarity with him, said personalities like Anna Hazare and Ramdev were forced to go on fast as the government had failed in its duty.
A delegation of TDP MPs will meet Ramdev and submit him a letter, supporting his cause, Naidu said.