BJP in favour of corruption, against strong Lokpal: Cong

Raipur, January 19, 2012

The PCC president Nandkumar Patel and CLP leader Ravindra Choubey on Thursday said that the BJP had always been in favour of corruption and against strong Lokpal. “The verdict of Gujarat High Court on appointment of Lokayukta came against the local government. This exposes the BJP’s real face which has never been senior in formation of strong system against corruption,” the duo said.

“Neither the BJP-ruled states including Chhattisgarh want Lokayukta, nor the party’s Central leadership showed commitment in passing strong Lokpal bill in the parliament,” they said.

They alleged that the BJP government in Chhattisgarh had made the Lok Ayog toothless. “There was a technical section in Lok Ayog in undivided Madhya Pradesh. This section had chief engineer, superintendent engineer and other officials. The job of these staffers was to conduct independent inquiry and submit reports to the Lokayukta. But the Chhattisgarh government has closed down this section,” they said.

“With no technical section in Lok Ayog, the Lokayukta sends the complaints to the relevant departments for inquiry. Ironically, probe is being done by those officials against whom the complaints are being made. In this scenario, transparency in probe is not possible,” they said.

The duo charged that the corruption level in the state shot up during BJP’s regime. “The ruling party and its corrupt officials gave large tracts of lands to the ineligible industrialists to do illegal mining and exploit the natural resources of the state. Even the BJP’s own parliamentarian Ramesh Bais is upset with rising corruption in Chhattisgarh and feels that Chief Minister too should come under Lokpal,” they said.