New Delhi:
Senior leaders of the BJP walked to the Rashtrapati Bhavan today to meet President Pratibha Patil to formally complain about the government's failure to put the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill to vote in the Rajya Sabha on December 29. Despite the Congress' denials, it's clear that the government avoided a vote because it was in a minority in the Rajya Sabha.
L K Advani, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were among those who participated in today's march.
"The Lokpal fiasco is a subversion of the parliamentary system," said BJP leader Arun Jaitley after the meeting.
The BJP is confronting accusations of double-speak on corruption -not just from a belligerent Congress but from some of its own members. While it has been attacking the government for being soft on corruption, this week, the BJP welcomed into its fold Babu Singh Kushwaha, a politician from UP who is being investigated for mega-corruption. As a minister in the Mayawati government, Mr Kushwaha supervised the Family Welfare Department. But on his watch, three senior doctors who worked for the department died- two of them were killed, one died in jail. Their deaths were allegedly linked to deep-rooted graft. Medical officers and bureaucrats were allegedly handing inflated contracts to suppliers of medicines and equipment. Crores ear-marked for the National Rural Health Mission went missing.
The BJP has said Mr Kushwaha , who was expelled from Mayawati's party in November, will not contest the UP elections. He will also not be used in the party's campaign. His considerable clout among a section of OBC voters appears to have paved his entry into the BJP. But the mounting criticism seems to be eroding any possible benefits of having Mr Kushwaha among its rank and file.
Late last year, Mr Advani conducted a nationwide tour against corruption. Yesterday, the Congress mocked that yatra, asking if Mr Advani scoured the nation to find tainted candidates like Mr Kushwaha.