BJP needs to refresh its memory : #aamaadmiparty

The BJP leadership needs to refresh its memory while carrying out a hasty cute and paste job in the election season, since it is repeatedly tripping on facts.

Right from its Prime Ministerial candidate Mr Narendra Modi to the three-in-one leader in Delhi, Harsh Vardhan, the BJP in its desperate and unsuccessful attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, is minting fiction and substituting it with facts.

Whether it is the BJP’s manifesto for Delhi, which has borrowed heavily the pro-people measures either already implemented by the AAP government when it was in power or those which the party stands for, or the saffron party’s belated attempts to raise the scams of UPA, the homework seems to be missing in both, before these were put in public domain.

Mr Harsh Vardhan alleged on Tuesday that the AAP did not raise the issue of union minister Kapil Sibal having benefitted Reliance Infocomm by around Rs 650 crore in 2010.

The shoe, however, lies on the other foot, and Mr Vardhan needs to be reminded that this scam was exposed by one of the founding AAP leaders, Prashant Bhushan in 2011.

It was this very scam on the basis of which Mr Kapil Sibal’s name was included in the list of 15 corrupt UPA ministers against whom Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai had sat on an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in July 2012 and they were joined by Anna Hazare also.

It was the refusal of the UPA government to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations against these 15 ministers which was one of the main reasons behind the announcement of the decision to form a political party when the fast was ended.

Prashant Bhushan had appeared on behalf of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, which had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court (copy attached) seeking a probe into Sibal’s role as telecom minister in the entire matter.

Further, A complaint was also filed with the Central Vigilance Commission (copy attached) seeking a direction for the CBI to carry out a thorough and impartial investigation.

It is shocking that Mr Vardhan has woken up so late and tried to rake up an issue merely for political posturing. In case the BJP is really serious in tackling corruption, why does it not move the Supreme Court seeking a probe into Sibal’s role ? why is the BJP shying away from writing to the CBI to carry out a thorough investigation ?

What prevented the BJP from raising the issue in parliament when it was known that the telecom ministry had tried to provide huge undue benefits to reliance Infocomm ?

Will the BJP promise the people that it will recover the entire amount from this company in case it comes to power at the centre ?

The BJP cannot hoodwink the people in the election season by merely speaking for the sake of it. Its hollow promises to the people of Delhi speak volumes about the BJP’s lack of preparation.

It is promising audit of the accounts of private power distribution companies (discoms) in Delhi by the CAG, which was the first step taken by the AAP government. Instead of fooling people, the BJP should concentrate on real issues and not indulge in gimmickry.

If the BJP is serious about slashing the electricity tariffs in Delhi, would it stand up and tell the truth that it had on February 14 voted against the AAP government’s decision to provide subsidy on electricity bills and also it had supported the interim budget in the parliament, which has discontinued this relief from April 1.