BJP blames PM's "conspiracy of silence" for graft

Challenging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's contention that corruption cases under UPA were "mere aberrations", BJP on Thursday said his "conspiracy of silence, culpable inaction and gross indifference" had led to graft in 2G spectrum allocation and CWG projects.

Challenging Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's contention that corruption cases under UPA were "mere aberrations", BJP on Thursday said his "conspiracy of silence, culpable inaction and gross indifference" had led to graft in 2G spectrum allocation and CWG projects.

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"Corruption is not an aberration Dr Manmohan Singh but the most defining and yet deplorable feature of your government. There was no state of uncertainty but public money was systematically looted because of conspiracy of silence, culpable inaction and gross indifference by you and your government," BJP Chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Singh had stated at an interaction with a group of editors yesterday that "instances of corruption (in UPA-II government) were just aberrations".

BJP described Singh's replies to the editors as "not only unsatisfactory, highly elusive but also deeply deplorable".

Insisting that Singh was in "silent mode" for a long time, the opposition refuted as "an alibi of delusional" his comments that the "world of uncertainty under which the UPA was operating in assessing its policy decisions and their implementations needs to be factored in".

Referring to Singh's letter dated November 11, 2007, to then Telecom Minister A Raja on 2G licences, Prasad said, "When A Raja refused to follow his directive then under what state of uncertainty he did not take action expected of him as a Prime Minister when Rs 1.7 lakh crore (approx) of public money was being looted?"