Chandigarh, July 21 (ANI): Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Prakash Karat on Thursday blamed the Congress party leadership for the 2008 cash-for-vote scam.
Addressing a new conference in Chandigarh, Karat said that a thorough probe should be undertaken to book the real culprits of the scam.
"Congress leadership was behind this and everybody knows it. It cannot be done by some individual," said Karat.
"When we talk about corruption then lawmakers were bribed to make them vote against their party's decision and subvert the democratic system. This is very serious and it should be properly investigated. Right now only a few lawmakers have been named, including three MPs (lawmakers) and Amar Singh has also been named. Many others are involved in it, and it should be properly investigated," he further added.
After being pulled up by the Supreme Court of India for the slow probe in the case, the Delhi Police arrested two people in a span of four days in this case. They arrested Sohail Hindustani, a suspect and an alleged middleman, for his role in the cash-for-vote scam case of 2008 and Sanjeev Saxena, a close associate of former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh.
The cash-for-votes scam had rocked proceedings in the Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian parliament) in 2008, when the ruling United Progressive Alliance, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, allegedly bribed lawmakers of other parties with an aim to win the confidence vote.
The trust vote had taken place after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front withdrew support from the federal government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Karat further criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its double standards over the issue of corruption, as the party still had not removed Karnataka Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa for his alleged involvement in various corruption cases.
"For the last one year, it is known that the Chief Minister of Karnataka (Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yeddyurappa) is one of the most corrupt persons running the government in Karnataka. He is helping his family, he is helping his son and his in-laws and if the BJP has any modicum of claim to say that they are fighting against corruption. The first thing that they shall do is to remove Yeddyurappa. They have not done it," said Karat.
Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde conducted enquiry into the cases of illegal mining and distribution of government land.
Hegde had indicted Yeddyurappa on Thursday (July 21) on charges of rampant corruption in the state. In his report, Hegde mentioned that Yeddyurappa was indirectly involved in an illegal mining scam and his close family members were directly involved in it.
Hedge called scam of illegal mining as huge and added that, within a span of 14 months, scam worth Rs 1800 crores has already occurred in the state.
Hegde, who is also the former judge of Supreme Court of India, will submit his report to the Chief Secretary on Friday.
However, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa had rejected Justice Hegde's earlier report on illegal mining, submitted in December 2008, and ordered formulation of another committee to conduct the investigation.
Reacting to the question of the social activist led anti-corruption crusade and the civil society draft of the Lokpal (Ombudsman) bill, Karat further added that the CPI-M supports inclusion of Prime Minister, but not judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal Bill.
"We agree with certain portions of the Jan Lokpal Bill (civil society draft of the Ombudsman Bill) and we may not agree with some. But our main point is that, the government so far, whatever draft they have brought they are totally inadequate. So our attempt will be that a strict Lokpal is formulated. Including the judiciary is (what we disagree with), but we agree that Prime Minister should be included, we agree that CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) anti-corruption wing must be brought under the Lokpal. So many things are common and certain things we do not agree with," said Karat.
The meeting on the Lokpal Bill on June 22, concluded with divergent views on six key issues.
The key issues of differences were on inclusion of the Prime Minister, higher judiciary and Members of Parliaments within the purview of the Ombudsman committee and the mode of selection and removal of its members.
Two sets of drafts, - one by the government and the other by the civil society representatives were circulated amongst political parties and the proposals would be forwarded to the federal cabinet for the final drafting of the bill.
Graft has long been a part of daily life, but a series of recent scandals - which include violations in granting telecom licences that cost the country $39 billion in lost revenue - are unprecedented. (ANI)
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