New Delhi:
With the Prime Minister offering to quit public life if charges on coal block allotments are proved against him, BJP has said that Caesar's wife should be above suspicion, while Team Anna demanded that Manmohan Singh respond to their charges on a point-by-point basis instead of rejecting them outrightly.
"Caesar's wife should be above suspicion and this is what we expect Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said adding that he was happy that Dr Singh "at least spoke something".
Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan said that the Prime Minister should have gone through the documents accompanying the 'chargesheet' before terming them as "irresponsible allegations".
"He should respond to them on a point-by-point basis, fact by fact basis," Mr Bhushan said adding that as India lacks an institution like Lokpal, the Prime Minister should accept their demand to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with three retired judges as its members to probe the charges against Cabinet ministers accused of corruption by Team Anna.
Another Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said that the allegations have not been levelled by the activists but were part of the various CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reports.
"To say that CAG reports are irresponsible is not right as it is a constitutional body," he said.
He said a credible probe was necessary which was not possible by a government agency as they were not independent.