BHOPAL, May 13: Describing former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar’s ‘tampering’ with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report on allocation of coal blocks as a “national crime”, Bharatiya Janata Party Vice-President Prabhat Jha today said a case should be registered against the former minister.
“In the report, National Democratic Alliance’s name was added while Prime Minister and some other senior Congress leaders’ names were removed. The CBI has no right to change the report. The apex court reprimanded Mr Kumar who committed a ‘national crime’. Hence, his resignation was not enough,” Mr Jha told.
Referring to former Rail minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s resignation over ‘Railgate’ scam, Mr Jha alleged that it proved that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime was involved in several major scams and the role of the Prime Minister’s Office could not be ruled out.
“During the nine-year-rule of the UPA, several top leaders were involved in scams and in most cases, ministers were made scapegoat. Infact, after resurfacing of such major scams, the Centre has no right to continue in power. However, the UPA government will have to pay the price in the next general elections and the NDA will register a historical victory,” Mr Jha said.
He said the Opposition often dubbed the CBI as “Congress Bureau of Investigation” as the investigating agency worked at the behest of the ruling Congress and the recent comments by the Supreme Court on Colgate scam had justified its claim.
“Hence, I advocate for the CBI’s autonomy but at the same time it should be kept in mind that the agency should not cross the limit,” he said and gave the example of media which has the right to expressing its views but at the same time it remains within the ambit of discipline,” Mr Jha clarified.
To a query about the BJP’s debacle in the recent assembly polls in Karnataka, Mr Jha admitted that the party suffered at the hustings due to its intra-party squabble.
He said the corruption issue also played a vital role in BJP’s defeat. “The party should learn a lesson from the outcome of the Karnataka elections,” he pointed out. (UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel