BJP alleges witch-hunt

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today alleged that a letter had been sent from the Prime Minister's Office to the personnel and training department, which also includes the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), asking why Babri Masjid demolition cases against former Home Minister LK Advani were not being pursued.

BJP parliamentary party spokesman VK Malhotra said his party would raise the issue on the last day of the winter session of Parliament.

"This is a grave matter. We will pursue the misuse of the CBI by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government," he said.

With this, the BJP might succeed in forcing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give a statement on the issue in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP had tried to corner Singh on the feud between Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan, later on Prasad's absence from Parliament after the Punjab train accident and recently on the Election Commission notice to the railway minister for violating the model code of conduct.

On all three occasion, BJP leaders, including former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had demanded statements from the Prime Minister. But till now, the Prime Minister has been able to avoid making a statement. The government's position on all these issues were stated by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee.

The Opposition allegation is also being seen in the context of the CBI cases filed against former BJP chief Bangaru Laxman and former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly. The dismissal of the Phukan commission investigating into the matter also contributed to the BJP's feeling of a witch- hunt.

"The government is on a witch-hunt and is more interested in pursuing this rather than actually govern the country," said Malhotra. The last day of the Winter session promises to be exciting.