Hyderabad, March 19: Manmohan Singh had better resign than continue as a weak prime minister, Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu said here yesterday.
Speaking to reporters, Naidu said that Manmohan Singh was a beneficiary of the cash-for-vote scandal as the the government won the trust vote in the 14th Lok Sabha by purchasing MPs of various parties as exposed by WikiLeaks.
Citing the 2G spectrum allotment and other scams, Naidu felt that money was playing havoc with the political system in the country.
The former chief minister regretted that the prime minister defended himself on the cash-for-vote scandal and even resorted to counter- attack on the opposition. The Union finance minister was trying to escape from the responsibility by saying that the 15th Lok Sabha was not responsible for what had happened in the 14 Lok Sabha. That was unfair, Naidu said.
“Gripped with money mania, the Congress is diluting the democratic values and has made democracy a business enterprise,’’ he Naidu alleged. On the state Legislative Council elections held yesterday, Naidu suggested amendment to the existing laws to prevent MLAs elected on one party from voting for another party in the Council elections. He also suggested adoption of the open ballot system as in the Rajya Sabha elections.
Naidu reiterated his party’s demand for a JLC probe into YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s assets and the land allotments to industries made during the Rajasekhara Reddy’s regime. “The state government is mooting a new policy on land allotment. It should also review the land allotments to various companies in the last six years.’’
On chief minister’s readiness for a debate on the Brahmani Infratel, Naidu pointed out that the Lok Sabha appointed a JPC to probe the 2G spectrum scam without any debate.
Naidu suggested a wider debate on the cash transfer scheme in the wake of resistance from the Left parties. The delivery mechanism in the country had several loopholes and not even 50 per cent of the funds allotted were reaching the geneuine beneficiaries. The conditional cash transfer scheme was the only remedy, the leader of the opposition asserted.
–Agencies