Sonia flays PM for shielding corrupt

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi today accused Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Cabinet colleagues of lowering the standard of election campaign and said the Prime Minister had condoned corruption "brazenly" in the recent past.

Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, for the first time after the party's defeat in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi was at her fiery best and pointed out that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed by huge resources and the propaganda machinery of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Vishwa Hindu Parishad (RSS-VHP) combine launched a no holds barred campaign.

Significantly, at the time when Gandhi was making her speech, Vajpayee at the BJP Parliamentary Party meeting cautioned the party MPs to be prepared to counter any move by the Opposition to "vitiate the political atmosphere".

Vajpayee apprehended that a frustrated Opposition might create some trouble.

Apparently, there was a sound and fury in both the camps""the BJP and the Congress. But the BJP camp was quite upbeat as three chief ministers""Uma Bharti, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh ""were honoured at the meeting.

Referring to the Dilip Singh Judeo cash-on-camera scam, Gandhi said the BJP seemed more interested in who was responsible for the video rather than the "fact" that its minister was allegedly caught on camera accepting money.

Gandhi said Judeo and some BJP leaders had reportedly admitted that money was taken but the party tried to make light of the video by terming it "fabricated".

Keeping this in mind, "we need to watch carefully whether the BJP allows the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the matter in a free and fair manner," she said.

On investigations into the Tehelka expose, Gandhi said even after three years no action had been taken against the politicians exposed in it.

"Nothing is known on the progress, if any, of the commission, which was set up to enquire the expose," she said.

Expressing "disappointment" over results of the recent Assembly polls, Gandhi said, "We accept the verdict of the people with humility and we will play our role of Opposition diligently and constructively".

Gandhi, however, expressed anguish over the Ajit Jogi episode and said Jogi's action of handing over the letter of support to a BJP splinter group could not be condoned. She favoured a "thorough and impartial" investigation into the case.

At the BJP meeting the Prime Minister said the party's victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had brought about a change in the country's political atmosphere. He attributed the win to team work.

Cautioning the new governments, Vajpayee asked newly sworn in chief ministers to start working for providing better roads, drinking water and power in right earnest.

He said the people have a lot of expectations from the party and, therefore, there was need to chalk out short-term and long-term plans for the welfare of people.

Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani told the meeting that the Assembly polls would provide the necessary morale booster to the party, which now had to begin preparations for "mission 2004", the Lok Sabha elections. He was confident that the NDA would return to power next year under the leadership of Vajpayee.

He said earlier the Assembly elections were viewed only from the point of view of the concerned state, while the Lok Sabha elections were important but "the current Assembly elections will definitely have a deep influence on the Lok Sabha polls."