Hyderabad, August 31: Describing the BJP as `Bharatiya Jinnah Party’, the All India Congress Committee today demanded the Bharatiya Janata Party and its senior leader LK Advani to tender an unconditional apology to the nation and its people for enacting `cash-for-vote’ scam drama in the Lok Sabha last year.
Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, who was expelled from the BJP, said yesterday that former deputy prime minister Advani was `at the centre’ of cash-for-vote scam. The desire to become the next prime minister had made him (Advani) to commit so many mistakes, he remarked.
Addressing a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan here, AICC spokesperson and MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi lashed out at the BJP and its leader Advani, alleging that they had organised a “false and fabricated sting operation’’ to fool the nation on the day the no-confidence motion was moved against the Congress-led UPA Government in the Lok Sabha. The BJP, which had projected Advani as the `future prime minister’, should tender an unconditional apology to the nation for playing a `foul game’ with the people and for deceit and dishonesty to Parliament.
“BJP leaders, including Advani, are guilty of serious breach of parliamentary privileges.
These, including the source of notes (shown in the Lok Sabha), are the serious issues which attract action under the Prevention of Corruption Act. They played a foul game with the sacred parliamentary democracy for narrow political gains. The nation demands accountability in this regard.’’ Answering a query, Singhvi asserted that the Congress would naturally demand an investigation into the episode.
“The party reserves its right to take action on the issue as per parliamentary procedures and law. Dishonesty and deceit of the highest order and at the highest quarters is a serious offence,’’ Singhvi, a noted lawyer, noted.
Asked about projecting Congress MP Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister candidate in the 2014 election, the AICC leader said that he would not want to comment on it since both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi himself had clarified several times on the matter. He exuded confidence that the Congress would bounce back to power with absolute majority in the next election on the strength of its performance.
–Agencies–