While claiming that the biggest economic reform in the first year of Modi government was “zero tolerance” to corruption, the BJP on Friday picked up a report in a news website to target Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and questioned the party’s silence on an alleged scam reported by it.
Party’s national spokesman M.J. Akbar asked why the Congress was “silent” on alleged bending of rules in a highways project during the UPA rule.
“The Cobrapost sting reveals how norms were changed in Vajpayeeji’s Golden Quadrilateral project in violation of rules to satisfy relationship between the Congress and crony capitalism and crony contractors,’’ he said at a press conference here.
Citing the report, Mr. Akbar said it had named two Union Ministers. “The sting [RTI] reveals that the file went up to the PMO. We want to know why the Congress is keeping quiet on who were the beneficiaries. Is it because the beneficiaries were the top brass including Mr. Gandhi?’’ he asked.
Alleging that “silence is a cover-up,” he said the Congress could “no longer get away with corruption.” Asked if the party will seek a probe into the revelations, he said, “wait till tomorrow [Saturday].”
The report suggested that in 2006, the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure decided to alter the specification in the 5,846-km Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) which connects the four big metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata — through four-lane highways.
Documents recently accessed by the website under RTI Act revealed that in at least in two specific cases, the government considerably bent the rules to help the private sector. This was done despite concerns raised by bureaucrats in various ministries, the report added.
