Dares him to spell out names of account holders in Swiss banks
Stepping up the pressure on UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and lawyer Ram Jethmalani on Saturday challenged Mr. Mukherjee to disclose the names of people whose money was stashed away in foreign banks.
“I will ask Mr. P.A. Sangma [the NDA’s Presidential candidate backed by the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal] to withdraw his candidacy if Mr. Mukherjee is willing to name names,” said the 88-year old parliamentarian, speaking to reporters here.
Endorsing Mr. Sangma’s personal integrity, Mr. Jethmalani acknowledged that Mr. Mukherjee could win, as it was merely a game of numbers. But he cautioned that the Presidential race could still throw up surprises.
Dubbing Mr. Mukherjee a “wrecker of the Indian Constitution,” Mr. Jethmalani commented he could not be entrusted with the task of preserving it.
In an open letter to Mr. Mukherjee, sharply censuring his political conduct during his career with the Congress, Mr. Jethmalani upbraided the former Finance Minister for not being able to repatriate the black money held in Swiss bank accounts. He added that the adjudication proceedings against alleged tax evader Hasan Ali had not yet been completed by the UPA government.
The French and the German governments were willing to share information but Mr. Mukherjee and his UPA government made no effort to obtain it, thereby protecting powerful criminals who controlled the government.
Flaying Mr. Mukherjee’s conduct during the 1975 Emergency, Mr. Jethmalani accused him of fervently colluding with Sanjay Gandhi in the excesses committed. He also accused Mr. Mukherjee of tailoring policies in the 1980s to favour a particular corporate group close to the Congress.
“His ideological veering towards crony capitalism had been exposed by a former Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) member. His name had cropped up in the rice export scam and the Scorpene deal case as well as the Navy war room leak during his tenure as the country’s Defence Minister. And this is the person we are going to elect as President,” he said, adding it would be a shame if Mr. Mukherjee made it to Raisina Hill.
Mr. Jethmalani said he had also written to Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee urging them to consult their conscience before supporting a particular candidate.
While the Shiv Sena and Samajwadi Party have announced their support for Mr. Mukherjee, the Trinamool Congress is still sitting on the fence.
Keywords: Presidential election
The observation of Mr Jethmalani though sounds interesting but it appears like Devil preaching Bible. Every Politician has limitations & Pranabda is no exception. Let not Mr Sangma persuade this companions further.
As long as Jethmalani's work is in national interest it is good. Question for people against Jethmalani, if a criminal goes to doctor should the doctor treat him or not?
The Time Magazine has not targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but said the truth 'The Underachiever'. He has mortgaged his ability to Congress President to be Prime Minister. He accepted Pranab Mukherjee as a finance Minister knowingly well he is unfit for the post for political compulsions of Sonia Gandhi.
a lawyer does not sit in judgement , He only assists the court in
properly appraising the facts and pronounce guilt or innocence of an
accused. Suppose i make an unsubstantiated allegation against you, will
you be guilty or will you take help of a lawyer and the lawyer
according to your logic will lose all the credibility. It is strange
logic. Kindly give a thought to what Jethmalani has said not his credibility .
Even though Mr.Jethmalani as a lawyer has saved many corrupt politicians and businessmen, what he is stating is still right regarding Mr.Mukherjee. Being a finance minister he was not able to handle the financial situation in the country , will now be the first citizen of India who will approve all the bills pased by both the houses. This is the irony of our country politics. Also any Presidential candidate should not bear any party symbols. But before getting elected itself he is wearing the congress symbol by which he is making it very clear that he is there to serve congress party not the country. In the current critical situation of our country everything is getting politicized including Presidential elections.
Instead of taking a candidate who is still in active politics it would have been better if a group of itellectuals from different fields form a group and nominate some list of persons who could be potential candidates for President and parties could select from them.
MR Jethmalini has selective conscience; as a lawyer he is happy receiving his fee from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy without batting an eyelid. It doesn't matter if the money he receives is hard earned or ill-gotten. Others, he expects them to be holier than the pope. Mr Jethmalini belongs to a party which sold its soul in Karnataka to hold on to power. I did not hear his objections. Mr Mukherjee may be all that Jethmalini calls him, but Jethmalini has no right to call the kettle black.
Mr. Jethmalani who is lawyer to the corrupt Jagan Mohan Reddy, has no
credibility to condemn Mr. Mukherjee in this matter.
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