Team Anna calls PM, Pranab corrupt, seeks inquiry

The anti-graft group has threatened to launch an indefinite fast from July 25

PTI | May 26, 2012




Team Anna on Saturday clubbed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee with 13 other Cabinet Ministers, whom they accused of corruption, which the Congress dismissed as "unsubstantiated averments" that need not be responded to.

The anti-graft group, which has threatened to launch an indefinite fast from July 25, has picked up portions of a draft CAG report to make charges against Singh when Coal Ministry was with him. They had never made allegations against the Prime Minister before.

Besides Singh and Mukherjee, the ministers against whom the Team Anna has demanded probe by an independent Special Investigation Team include P Chidambaram, Sharad Pawar, S M Krishna, Kamal Nath, S M Krishna, Praful Patel, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Virbhadra Singh, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid, G K Vasan, Farooq Abdullah, M Alagiri and Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Dismissing allegations levelled by Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan and Kiran Bedi at a press conference, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said, "I do not need to give an answer to unsubstantiated averments." The PMO declined to comment.

He said this is not the first time such things have been said and answered.

"It is not necessary that every unsubstantiated averment needs to be responded to."

Tiwari also referred to a report in a newspaper that Bedi has written to Hazare complaining against NGO led by Kejriwal not using funds properly.

The Team, some of whose members have been accused of financial misconduct, denied the report.

Hazare and his close aides sent a letter to Singh seeking setting up of an independent Special Investigation Team with three retired judges as it members to probe the charges.

They suggested that the government could select the judges from a panel of Justices Sudarshan Reddy, A K Ganguly, A P Shah, Kuldeep Singh, J S Verma and M N Venkatachellaiah.

In the letter, they said the SIT should investigate charges against the 15 "corrupt" ministers as well as those against party chiefs Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Lalu Prasad and Jayalalithaa.

They also said that the SIT can investigate charges against Team Anna.

"We will wait till July 24. If the government does not take steps to (set up SIT), we will go on an indefinite fast from July 25," activist Arvind Kejriwal told reporters
 

Comments

 

Other News

Tier-2 cities lead India’s digital credit push

Digital payments have become a reflex for urban India, but the confidence earned in paying has not yet carried over to borrowing. That is the central finding of `How Urban India Pays Report 2026`, released by Pahlé India Foundation in collaboration with Amazon Pay. Based on a survey of 5,149 consu

India calls for doubling bilateral trade with UK by 2030

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal has called upon businesses in India and the United Kingdom to translate the opportunities created by the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) into expanded trade, investment, partnerships and job creation. Addressing the Bu

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter