With Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee promising a white paper on the ministry's performance during Lalu Prasad's tenure, BJP on Saturday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could not abdicate himself of the "financial jugglery" committed during that period.
"The Prime Minister has said the white paper will uncover the reality. This vindicates BJP's stand that in the last five years there has been financial jugglery in the Railways. The PM cannot abdicate himself as Prasad was a part of his cabinet," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters.
He hoped the promised white paper would expose the "black deeds" of Prasad and not attempt to cover them.
The BJP said Prasad's image as a politician and administrator has not been clean. "We have seen the Rs 1,000 crore fodder scam in which he was sent to jail," Rudy said, adding, "The nation could be heading towards a major scandal".
He welcomed Banerjee's effort to bring out the paper on operational, organisational and financial status of Railways.
Rudy accused Prasad of misleading management institutions like IIMs and Harvard Business School through his claims of turning around Indian Railways.
{{/usCountry}}Rudy accused Prasad of misleading management institutions like IIMs and Harvard Business School through his claims of turning around Indian Railways.
{{/usCountry}}The Prime Minister told reporters on his way back from Italy that the white paper will "throw light on what is the reason, why it has happened and what can be done".
Debunking Prasad's claims, Banerjee has said that after meeting all expenses, the Railways were left with a surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore and not Rs 90,000 crore.