This Article is From Dec 03, 2015

BJP Attacks Congress Over Corruption, Targets P Chidambaram

BJP Attacks Congress Over Corruption, Targets P Chidambaram

As the Finance minister, P Chidambaram allowed certain money transactions to happen because his son had an "interest" in these firms, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman alleged.

New Delhi: With the Rajya Sabha witnessing frequent disruption by the Congress, BJP today tore into it over alleged involvement of its leaders in corruption cases and also questioned former Finance Minister P Chidambram's role in 2G scam, raking up recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at firms linked to his son.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also raised the issue of alleged corruption charges against chief ministers of Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand at a press conference and demanded that Congress take action against these leaders.

Citing a recent notification by the Swiss government, she said it had "reinforced" the charge that Preneet Kaur, a minister in the previous UPA government, had an undisclosed bank account in Switzerland. Ms Kaur is Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh's wife.

BJP's strong attack indicated that there was still no thaw in the frosty relations between the two parties, hopes of which were raised after Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought their cooperation for the passage of Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill.

Ms Sitharaman, however, said she would not "imagine" that the attack on Congress would have a bearing on its stand on the GST bill.

"GST is something which is their (Congress) bill. It is in national interest. If these are becoming an issue because of which Congress party, and I would not imagine that, would not support GST, then it would be a sad day," she said, expressing hope that it would deal with the allegations with "maturity".

Alleging that Mr Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram was linked to firms accused in the 2G scam cases, she said the recent raids by Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate authorities on certain firms allegedly connected to him were "part of larger 2G enquiry".

Mr Chidambaram as the finance minister "allowed" certain money transactions to happen because his son had an "interest" in these firms, she alleged.
.