Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has demanded Defence Minister A. K. Antony's resignation “for his irresponsible handling” of the country security issues.
Mr. Achuthanandan told a news conference here on Friday that there was no point in Mr. Antony continuing in office harking back to his resignation as Civil Supplies Minister following the sugar import scandal. The Ministry of Defence had never faced such grave charges as has been raised in connection with purchase of trucks for the Indian army. In the present instance, none other than the Army Chief himself had told Mr. Antony about the offer of Rs.14 crore as bribe to him. Mr. Antonys' claim was that he did not act on the Army Chief's statement as he had not given it in writing. Mr. Antony's not to have the matter investigated was deliberate, he said.
Mr. Antony, he said, had no moral right to continue in office given the developments which seemed to suggest that chaos prevailed at the top echelons of the country's armed forces. He could not claim immunity on the plea that everybody knew that he was incorruptible. Besides the Army Chief, some of his Cabinet colleagues also had apprised him of the corruption in his department. But he had not acted in the matter. When the Bofors scandal, involving pay-offs of the order of Rs.64 crore, came to light, there was an attempt to save the main accused like Ottavio Quattrocchi. At that time too, what Mr. Antony had done was to observe silence.
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Dig at Thangal
Replying to questions, Mr. Achuthanandan said the unresponsive attitude of the Congress leadership to Muslim League president Panakkad Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal's statement that his party would have a fifth Minister was noteworthy. Once the late Muslim League leader Seethi Haji had stated that if Thangal demanded something, it would be delivered on a golden platter at Panakkad (the seat of the Thangal family). However, in the present instance, the Mr. Shihab Thangal had travelled all way to Thiruvananthapuram, taken a detour on learning that the Chief Minister was in Kottayam and declared on reaching Thiruvananthapuram that the League would get a fifth Minister. Thus, one could imagine what was happening in all these matters, Mr. Achuthanandan said.