Yatra to highlight corruption and UPA inaction'

Published : Nov 04, 2011 00:00 IST

Nirmala Sitharaman: "WHAT has the UPA done about black money?" - RAJEEV BHATT

Nirmala Sitharaman: "WHAT has the UPA done about black money?" - RAJEEV BHATT

Interview with BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman.

EVEN as L.K. Advani's yatra rattles on, the Bharatiya Janata Party is besieged by reports of differences between him and Narendra Modi, both of whom are said to be contenders for the Prime Minister's post. BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman dismisses these reports as media speculation and claims that the yatra is only aimed at highlighting corruption and the United Progressive Alliance's inaction on the issue of black money. Excerpts from a conversation with Frontline:

There have been reports in the media about Advani's yatra being an effort to project himself as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate. That too, without the party's concurrence. How far is this impression true?

It is absolutely wrong to say that the purpose of the yatra is to project either Advani, or anybody else for that matter, as the prime ministerial candidate. The one and only purpose of the yatra is to highlight the issue of corruption and the UPA government's inaction on the issue of black money and to focus attention on clean governance. As far as the projection of anybody as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate is concerned, it is the party's call solely, and the party will decide closer to the election who is to be projected, whether anybody should be projected at all and so forth.

But Advani, while speaking to a news channel, has asked why should he rule himself out of the race. Does that not mean that he considers himself in the race?

Frankly speaking, if you keep asking someone the same question day in and day out, maybe once in 100 times, that person would turn around and say, why should I rule myself out? But if you black out the other 99 times and just project that one-time reply, that does not become the party line. This issue is to be decided by the party, at the right time.

How far are the reports about differences between Advani and Modi true? Advani was to start his yatra from Gujarat, but he shifted it to Bihar. Now even as Advani's yatra is on, Modi has announced yet another fast. Is competitive politics played between the two?

All these reports of differences between the two leaders are totally false; there is no truth in them at all. This has been made clear by both of them in no uncertain terms. There is no rivalry between them either. As for Modi's fast, it was announced on September 19, the day he broke his three-day fast, that as part of his forthcoming sadbhavna mission, he would observe a day's fast in each district of Gujarat, and the fast which was declared yesterday [on October 13] is part of the sadbhavna mission programme. His first fast will be in Dwaraka, so it is not as if Modi announced his fast only yesterday.

Advani is undertaking the yatra to highlight the issue of corruption. Is it not true that BJP governments in several States are facing corruption charges and not enough is being done about it? Is this not taking away from the credibility of his yatra?

If you are referring to Karnataka, immediately after the Lokayukta report, the party took action, removed those found guilty; even the Chief Minister had to go. We even put Ministers in jail. BJP president Nitin Gadkari is on record as having said that if there is more evidence, more action will be taken. So why should it take away from the credibility of the yatra?

The Congress party says that before Advani starts pointing fingers at the Congress government, he should tell the nation what his government did to get this money back during the seven years that it was in power.

The Congress starts talking like this when it is cornered. Congress leaders should know, and that is a matter of record for anyone to check, that until 2006 the international environment was not conducive to taking action on this issue. The United Nations Convention against Corruption and measures like Tax Information Exchange Agreements or Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements, which can facilitate action, have come post-NDA, specifically after 2006. So it is wrong to say that we did nothing.

Besides, the global meltdown created an international environment where it became easier for governments to put pressure on tax haven countries or foreign banks to part with information. In 2009, by when these tools had become available to us, we made this a part of our national election campaign and we also set up a task force to study the quantum of this black money. Many recommendations of this task force are being used by the UPA government as well. So it is wrong to say that the NDA government did not do anything to get the black money back.

But what has the UPA government done despite all these resources that are available to it? Instead of disclosing the names of those who have black money in foreign banks, the Finance Minister addressed a press conference in late January and only talked about procedures. Where is the action?

Sign in to Unlock member-only benefits!
  • Bookmark stories to read later.
  • Comment on stories to start conversations.
  • Subscribe to our newsletters.
  • Get notified about discounts and offers to our products.
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment