10-19-2011, 12:11 AM
The Times of India Reports
Quote
Advani on Yeddyurappa arrest: We should keep our house in order
PTI | Oct 18, 2011, 05.03PM IST
NAGPUR: Virtually admitting embarrassment on account of BS Yeddyurappa's arrest in an alleged land scam, L K Advani today said it will be difficult to win against the "corrupt" Congress if his party too is bedevilled by similar weaknesses.
However, he asked the Congress to see the writing on the wall in the wake of Monday's rout in byelections and said the UPA government could be pulled down if any of its allies chooses to do so.
Addressing a press conference here, Advani initially parried a question on Yeddyurappa but later admitted that the party suffered embarrassment on account of former Karnataka chief minister's arrest.
"We don't take our internal weaknesses lightly. This thing was vindicated in Karnataka clearly. We had cautioned him but once the report (of Lokayukta on illegal mining) came, he had to quit. Small mistakes by others is embarrassing the party leadership. There may be chances of a slip up so I am telling every one in the party to remain vigilant," he said.
Advani went on to add that the party was fully conscious of the fact that "no party can win the confidence of the people against the present corruption of the Congress party if it's own house is bedevilled by similar weaknessses."
He also described the present political situation as "very uncertain" and said no one can predict what is likely to happen. Someone in the government may say they will continue in power for another two years and someone in opposition may affirm that the government will not last long.
"I cannot say either way. The uncertain political situation depended essentially on the government and whatever remains of the UPA if one of them wants to pull it down... But the Opposition by itself cannot pull it down," he said.
Advani said while in the case of Rajiv Gandhi's government VP Singh pulled it down, Congress is fortunate that "there is no VP Singh now".
Unquote
Shri Advani has been honest enough to admit that there is some truth in the allegations against the former CM of Karnataka. He has also indirectly hinted that BJP is also facing the same problem of corruption as other political parties. Unfortunately, as in other political parties there are elements within the BJP who try to put corruption under the carpet, to prove that BJP is very clean. In the process they are doing great harm to the party itself.Today in India with a free electronic and print media it is next to impossible to keep anything under the carpet. As a result of this the public is becoming aware of new scams one after the other in quick succession.
There are media reports today that two members of Team Anna have resigned.This is in addition to the controversy created by Shri Prasant Bhushan's remark on Kashmir and subsequent developments.All these events may eventually derail the movement started by Anna Hazare against corruption. The need of the hour is for Anna Hazare to control his core group and ensure that there is no deviation from the original agenda fo fighting corruption. The one upmanship of individual members needs to be stopped at the earliest, if the original movement is to succeed.
Quote
Advani on Yeddyurappa arrest: We should keep our house in order
PTI | Oct 18, 2011, 05.03PM IST
NAGPUR: Virtually admitting embarrassment on account of BS Yeddyurappa's arrest in an alleged land scam, L K Advani today said it will be difficult to win against the "corrupt" Congress if his party too is bedevilled by similar weaknesses.
However, he asked the Congress to see the writing on the wall in the wake of Monday's rout in byelections and said the UPA government could be pulled down if any of its allies chooses to do so.
Addressing a press conference here, Advani initially parried a question on Yeddyurappa but later admitted that the party suffered embarrassment on account of former Karnataka chief minister's arrest.
"We don't take our internal weaknesses lightly. This thing was vindicated in Karnataka clearly. We had cautioned him but once the report (of Lokayukta on illegal mining) came, he had to quit. Small mistakes by others is embarrassing the party leadership. There may be chances of a slip up so I am telling every one in the party to remain vigilant," he said.
Advani went on to add that the party was fully conscious of the fact that "no party can win the confidence of the people against the present corruption of the Congress party if it's own house is bedevilled by similar weaknessses."
He also described the present political situation as "very uncertain" and said no one can predict what is likely to happen. Someone in the government may say they will continue in power for another two years and someone in opposition may affirm that the government will not last long.
"I cannot say either way. The uncertain political situation depended essentially on the government and whatever remains of the UPA if one of them wants to pull it down... But the Opposition by itself cannot pull it down," he said.
Advani said while in the case of Rajiv Gandhi's government VP Singh pulled it down, Congress is fortunate that "there is no VP Singh now".
Unquote
Shri Advani has been honest enough to admit that there is some truth in the allegations against the former CM of Karnataka. He has also indirectly hinted that BJP is also facing the same problem of corruption as other political parties. Unfortunately, as in other political parties there are elements within the BJP who try to put corruption under the carpet, to prove that BJP is very clean. In the process they are doing great harm to the party itself.Today in India with a free electronic and print media it is next to impossible to keep anything under the carpet. As a result of this the public is becoming aware of new scams one after the other in quick succession.
There are media reports today that two members of Team Anna have resigned.This is in addition to the controversy created by Shri Prasant Bhushan's remark on Kashmir and subsequent developments.All these events may eventually derail the movement started by Anna Hazare against corruption. The need of the hour is for Anna Hazare to control his core group and ensure that there is no deviation from the original agenda fo fighting corruption. The one upmanship of individual members needs to be stopped at the earliest, if the original movement is to succeed.