New Delhi:
BJP leader LK Advani today slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and accused him of not doing much to check corrupt ministers. He said action was taken against some allegedly corrupt politicians only after directions from the Supreme Court, and not because of the PM's efforts.
"It has not happened in 60 years that Union ministers be removed due to corruption and sent to jails... and Manmohan Singh
ji has not sent them... they have been sent by the Supreme Court or by the Controller and Auditor General report," the senior Opposition leader said in Delhi, setting the tone for his anti-corruption 'Jan Chetna Yatra' that he will begin on October 11.
Not missing the opportunity to praise his party leaders, Mr Advani further said, "They (corrupt ministers) have gone (to jail) because of our Public Accounts Committee President Mr. (Murli Manohar) Joshi."
He said he hoped his 'Chetna Yatra' will awaken the country. "Our country has lot of potential and it could be at the top spot in many spheres if we do not tolerate corruption. We will not tolerate that black money is kept in foreign countries...and we will not tolerate the negotiation with terrorists. I am sure my yatra will awaken everybody."
He said the issue of bringing back black money illegally stashed in banks abroad would figure prominently during his yatra. "Though I will raise the issues of rampant corruption, price rise and extreme poverty that exist in the country, the issue of black money stashed abroad will figure most prominently."
Mr Advani was addressing a gathering of people from the rural areas of Delhi at his residence. The function was held to felicitate him ahead of his yatra.
He recalled that during the erstwhile NDA government, the issue was taken up with the Swiss authorities but the latter expressed their inability to return the money or share information due to their banking secrecy laws.
"People generally ask us as to what we did about black money when we were in power for six years. I tell them before this, the Swiss government never allowed us to access the information," he said.
Mr Advani will set out on his yatra against corruption on October 11 and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of ally JD(U) will flag it off. He had earlier planned to begin his yatra from Gujarat, as he had done in the past, but his one-time protégé, Mr Modi reportedly refused to allow that. (With PTI Inputs)