Advani lauds Shivraj Singh Chauhan's 'good work'

Satna, Oct 14 (ANI): Lauding Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for his 'good work', senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran L.K Advani said Chauhan is doing 'great work' for the welfare of the people.

Addressing the gathering at Satna, Advani said: "Why are people in such anger? People are angry because the government is drowned in corruption, that too the Central government. When I look at the condition of the country, then I feel that the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is doing a great work for the welfare of the people.

"I will ask the journalists as to why they don't let him do the good work when they cannot stop the bad things done elsewhere?" Pointing fingers elsewhere he asked "What kind of a government is this?".

Advani further recalled the cash-for-vote scam incident in which BJP lawmakers had accused the Congress of bribing them to win the trust vote in the Parliament.

He said that the government was wrong in sending off those three lawmakers to jail in spite of his vehement protests, which fell on deaf ears.

"Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram were seated in the Parliament. I said while addressing them, that my three colleagues have done a very good work. They served democracy, the country and its ethics. And you have sent them to jail? I say that if they are offenders then I, their leader, am a bigger offender, because I did not stop them from doing so. You can send me to the jail if you want. I said it in anger but then I thought that only anger is not enough. This feeling should be spread throughout the country," he added.

Earlier, Advani lashed out at Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for what he called "widespread scams engulfing the country" which exposed central government's " ill governance and mismanagement."

Addressing a mammoth gathering in Varanasi, he remarked Dr Manmohan ingh was once touted as an honest politician, but his Cabinet "houses one of the most scandalized ministers constantly facilitating scams in the country".

"I have noticed that in the past two years all of a sudden there is uncontrollable corruption in the country. The common man earlier thought high of the Prime Minister, and he was touted as the most honest and corruption-free man in the country. However, the recent scams in the country under his governance have totally disillusioned the common man," he added.

Advani began his 38-day long 'Jan Chetna Yatra' from Bihar's Sitabdiara village on Tuesday.

Advani's journey to take on the UPA Government on the corruption issue and press for return of black money stashed away abroad is going to encompass 23 states, four Union Territories, which will include 100 districts and 7600 kilometres.

During the yatra, Advani would be boarding 14 special aircraft and six helicopters. He has to visit a total of 46 places across the country. The 38-day long yatra will conclude in Delhi on November 20 in the form of a massive rally.

Ostensibly to campaign against corruption, the yatra is seen by many political parties as motivated by the upcoming general elections to be held in 2014. (ANI)