Cong slams BJP for describing govt as 'most corrupt' since '47

Stung by BJP's dig that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was leading the "most corrupt" government in the country's history, Congress today accused the opposition party of attempting to "short-circuit political mandate by resorting to cheap politics".

Stung by BJP's dig that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was leading the "most corrupt" government in the country's history, Congress on Wednesday accused the opposition party of attempting to "short-circuit political mandate by resorting to cheap politics".

HT Image

"Those who live in glass houses do not throw stones on others. There is a huge difference between what BJP says and what it does. BJP is a party which believes in preaching without practice. It is a negative and regressive force in the country," party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

He was reacting to senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley's remarks on Tuesday in which he had said the UPA II has little idea on how to deal with the various problems plaguing the country.

"While people say the Prime Minister is personally honest.... It is a strange honesty that he leads the most corrupt government in India since 1947," he had said.

Singhvi said BJP has no moral, political, constitutional right to lecture the Congress on how to fight corruption and asked what actions it took in corruption cases allegedly involving its leaders including the Karnataka Chief Minister.

"Don't try to short-circuit political mandate by cheap politics...What the BJP leader on Tuesday said was an attempt at disinformation," Singhvi said questioning why NDA could do nothing in Bofors case in six years of its rule at the Centre.

Singhvi also dismissed questions on the reported difference of opinion between Home Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Cabinet plan for Naxal areas, saying, "do not consider exchange information a fight."

He said the exchange of views and counter-views are part of good governance in which UPA believes.