New Delhi: Maintaining that Natwar Singh was being made a scapegoat by the Congress to save its skin in the Oil-for-Food scam, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani on Monday demanded that the ruling party apply the same yardstick to Sonia Gandhi and remove her as Chairperson of National Advisory Council.
Advani said, "The party cannot have double standards. Natwar Singh has been stripped of his portfolio. The same approach should be adopted in the case of the Congress President also. Until investigations are complete, the NAC Chairman should quit office."
Drawing parallels between the present situation and the run-up to the Emergency he said, "It is just like in Indira Gandhi?s time. The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, was not allowed to speak and the Indian Ambassador to Croatia, Aneil Mathrani, was whisked away on returning to the country reminding one of the midnight knocks during Emergency."
"The principal defence of the ruling coalition was that the names in the Volcker report were unverified as there was no evidence against the accused. However the Aneil Mathrani episode has given a new twist to the story. It is verification by an insider that there is substance in the allegations," he said.
"The very fact that the Prime Minister says he will consider whether to accept Natwar Singh?s resignation or not if he offers to resign, shows the ruling party in very bad light," he added.
Advani also rubbished the suggestion that the Opposition was raising its pitch on the Volcker report to divert attention from the Uma Bharti issue.
"Volcker is an issue of purity and ethics in politics while the Uma Bharti issue is a matter of internal discipline and we are dealing with it."
"The Minister and his family are repeatedly saying, don't make us scapegoats. It seems obvious that the present mood in the ruling establishment is that if blame is put on one person, the party may perhaps be able to get out of it," he said.
Comments
0 comment