The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said former Coal Secretary P.C. Parakh’s book Crusader or conspirator? Coalgate and Other Truths has reinforced the view that the UPA’s term was characterised by the absence of leadership on part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“Both books [Sanjaya Baru’s The Accidental Prime Minister and P.C. Parakh’s Crusader or conspirator? ] are written by people who worked closely with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and have an elaborate account of the important issues during the tenure of the UPA government. The books show that the PM was never in control and the power sharing between him and Congress president Sonia Gandhi allowed for behind-the-screen control of the PMO,” said party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman.
She said when the BJP accused the PM of being weak, there was an outcry that the PMO was being undermined. “But now we can say the Congress has misled the nation. Both books underline that everything revolved around the First Family [the Gandhis] and not the constitutional setup,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
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The BJP also targeted the Gandhi family for taking credit for different policies, but shirking responsibility when it came to shouldering the blame. “When it came to answering questions or accepting the blame, the family was not involved. Dynastic politics has ruined the country in the last ten years. Mr. Parakh’s book clearly states that suggestions for transparent coal block allocation were not accepted and allocation was based on other considerations,” the BJP spokesperson added.
She also attacked the Prime Minister for failing to secure a free and fair environment for bureaucracy to function.