New Delhi:
After damning revelations by WikiLeaks of Congress buying MPs to win the vote-of-confidence over the crucial Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) released a statement calling for the Prime Minister's resignation. The NDA further accused the government of indulging in bribery.
Here is the full statement:The NDA had contemporaneously maintained in July 2008 that the vote of confidence in favour of the UPA-I was influenced by bribery. The leaked WikiLeaks cable is a statement sent by an American diplomat to his government. It is contemporaneous in so far as, it relates to the year 2008. He was the political counselor in the American Embassy. The Americans were interested in the vote of confidence. One of the offenders was lavishly and liberally working in foreign cell of the Congress. The arrogant Congress displayed the rogue war chests to the American diplomat. He certainly could not have concocted these facts in relation to a friendly party in India. The likes of Sant Chatwal were inducted in order to induce the Akali Dal. He did not succeed yet he got adequately compensated by this government. This contemporaneous evidence stares in the face of the political immorality of this government. The UPA-I survived on the political strength of sin. The Prime Minister has no moral authority or legitimacy to lead the government of the day. He must quit forthwith.
The Finance Minister's defence in the Rajya Sabha, that diplomatic immunity prevents this Government from investigating the cables is of no avail. The diplomatic immunity extends to protecting the secrecy of the cable. That cable has already been released to the public. The diplomatic immunity does not extend to protecting an Indian offender, who has committed an act of bribery in India. Shri Pranab Mukherjee's further defence that the offence vanished with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha is incredible since the offence of bribery, committed in 2008, outside Parliament does not vanish because the 14th Lok Sabha has ceased to exist.
This disclosure adds to the campaign of NDA against corruption. These allegations of corruption shall continue to haunt this government till it continues.
The NDA demands that this government has no moral right to continue, and it should quit.