BHARAT SURAKSHA YATRA

April 6 -- May 10, 2006

Press Statement issued by Shri L.K. Advani

Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha)
At a press conference in Indore on April 28, 2006

One of the primary goals of the Bharat Suraksha Yatra, which I have undertaken jointly with my Party President Shri Rajnath Singh, is to educate the people about the threat to national security and good governance posed by mounting corruption scandals in the UPA government. We have specifically highlighted three major scandals in the two years of the UPA government:

The Quattrocchi scandal: The government's brazen misuse of the investigative agencies and its flouting of legal principles to enable the Italian fugitive, Ottavio Quattrocchi, to walk away with Rs. 21 crore of Bofors money, which were earlier frozen in a London bank, has clearly demonstrated once again the Congress leadership's neck-deep involvement in the Bofors scandal. It is revealing that the Congress president has spoken not a word about this episode, which was roundly condemned by not only the opposition parties but also by the non-political national opinion.

The Scorpene submarine scandal: This is a combination of two inter-related scandals. First is the "War Room Leak" in the naval headquarters. Second is the massive political payoff, allegedly over Rs. 500 crore, at 4% of the Rs. 18,978-crore Scorpene deal with the French company Thales.

The Volker report about the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal: Former external affairs minister Shri Natwar Singh has made certain important pronouncements in a TV interview yesterday on the Volker report and its aftermath. These pronouncements fully vindicate all that the BJP has been saying on the Volker report right from the day its explosive contents were publicized in the media in October last year. Moreover, they constitute an internal proof of the Congress party's complicity in the Iraqi food-for-oil scam.

The Congress and the communist parties have a long and sordid record of receiving funds from foreign sources. The BJP believes that this is not ordinary kind of corruption. It makes these parties and their governments vulnerable to pressures from their foreign paymasters. Worse still, it brings dishonour to India and lowers the global reputation of India's proud democratic system.

Breaking his silence on the Volker scandal, Shri Singh has said two things: Firstly, that he has been made a scapegoat in the scandal. Secondly, that he finds it extraordinary that while the whole issue is being projected as Natwar and Iraq oil, there has been no reference to the other contact -- Congress party. This has happened despite the fact that the Congress party faces equally serious allegations in the controversy, he has said.

The involvement of Shri Natwar Singh, who had to quit as the external affairs minister in the wake of the Volker report mentioning him and the Congress party as "non-contractual beneficiaries" in Iraq's oil-for-food scam, is now substantiated by further documentary proof. Section 4 (i) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act clearly states that "no foreign contribution shall be accepted by any political party or an officer of a political party". Therefore, I had said in my press conference in Mumbai on April 10 that, both on moral and political grounds, Congress president Shrimati Sonia Gandhi owes an explanation to the Nation.

I am dismayed that neither Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh nor Shrimati Sonia Gandhi has so far broken their silence on the Congress party being separately mentioned by the Volker report as a beneficiary in the scandal. It is now clear that, having made Shri Natwar Singh a scapegoat, the Congress party wants to put a lid on its own involvement in the scandal.

The BJP also reiterates its earlier demand that a case must be immediately registered by the CBI against Shri Natwar Singh and the Congress party under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act. This alone will enable the CBI to send letters rogatory to Swiss and other foreign governments to track the money trail and pinpoint the end beneficiaries in the food-for-oil scam. Investigating agencies should also question the Congress president in the course of their probe.

Indo-US nuclear deal: Shri Natwar Singh has also criticized the recent Indo-US nuclear agreement. Coming from a former external affairs minister, this is a serious matter. It also vindicates the BJP's view on this important issue which has a bearing on India's national security. I would therefore like the Prime Minister to clarify on the points raised by Shri Natwar Singh.