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PMO rejects allegations against Manmohan
Clean Media Correspondent
Chennai/Delhi, June 09 (CMC) Hitting out at Team Anna members for their allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the allocation of coal blocks, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy yesterday said that Anna Hazare is a simple man but is surrounded by anti-national elements.
“Anna Hazare is a simple man but is surrounded by anti-national elements. I would like to say that Arvind Kejriwal collected huge money at the time of Anna Hazare’s agitation... what happened to that money...nobody knows,” Narayanasamy told reporters in Chennai.
Rejecting Team Anna members’ allegations against Singh on allocation of coal blocks, the Prime Minister’s Office has refused to accept the demand for an independent probe, saying the manner in which “loose” allegations have been levelled was not acceptable.
Narayanasamy wrote a letter to social activist Anna Hazare Friday that allegations against the prime minister were based on a leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and reports in the media.
“You have not produced proof in support of the allegations and have said yourself that you were not making the allegations. The policy adopted in allocation of coal blocks and procedures adopted have been made available on the website of coal ministry,” Narayansamy said.
The letter, which was released yesterrday, was in response to Team Anna’s letter of May 26 in which it charged Manmohan Singh and 14 cabinet ministers of “massive corruption” and asked for independent probe.
Besides Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna also figured in the 79-page document prepared by Team Anna alleging their involvement in corruption.
Narayanasamy said the government had looked into the Team Anna’s demand for an independent probe by a special team into the allegations against the prime minister.
“Keeping in view that there is enough legal and constitutional structure available to look and act on issues raised by you, your demand (for probe by special team) cannot be accepted,” Narayanasamy said.
Manmohan Singh was in charge of the coal portfolio from November 2006 to May 2009.
Narayanasamy said the style of Team Anna’s letter and “long and loose” allegations in it were not acceptable.
“I regret to say that your statement that country’s highest institutions such as the Supreme Court, high court, CAG etc. had made allegations (against the ministers) from time to time is not only unclear but is not worth being accepted,” Narayanasamy said.
Targeting another member, Kiran Bedi, Narayanasamy said: “Kiran Bedi is accused of collecting money from organisations; she attended meetings by going economy class and then collecting the money for business class... and that allegation was proved and now she has refunded the money... this is the reputation.”
He said that as far as the agitation by yoga guru Baba Ramdev to bring back black money is concerned, the government has already submitted a white paper in parliament and is trying to bring back the money stashed in banks abroad.
“What is the reputation of Baba Ramdev, we all know,” he said.
According to the minister, the prime minister has assured transparency in coal allocation but there was no transparency during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule.
“Our government is a transparent government. The PM wanted to have a transparent form of coal block allocation in 2004. During the NDA government, there was no transparency,” he said.
Team Anna has been targeting the prime minister over the auction of coal blocks during the period he held the coal portfolio.
In Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari called Narayanasamy’s comment “unfair”.
“I think it is unfair to call anyone anti-national. There can be differences in opinion...if somebody campaigns against the government, then they cannot call them anti-national,” Gadkari told reporters in the national capital.
PMO rejects allegations against Manmohan
Clean Media Correspondent
Chennai/Delhi, June 09 (CMC) Hitting out at Team Anna members for their allegations against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the allocation of coal blocks, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office V. Narayanasamy yesterday said that Anna Hazare is a simple man but is surrounded by anti-national elements.
“Anna Hazare is a simple man but is surrounded by anti-national elements. I would like to say that Arvind Kejriwal collected huge money at the time of Anna Hazare’s agitation... what happened to that money...nobody knows,” Narayanasamy told reporters in Chennai.
Rejecting Team Anna members’ allegations against Singh on allocation of coal blocks, the Prime Minister’s Office has refused to accept the demand for an independent probe, saying the manner in which “loose” allegations have been levelled was not acceptable.
Narayanasamy wrote a letter to social activist Anna Hazare Friday that allegations against the prime minister were based on a leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and reports in the media.
“You have not produced proof in support of the allegations and have said yourself that you were not making the allegations. The policy adopted in allocation of coal blocks and procedures adopted have been made available on the website of coal ministry,” Narayansamy said.
The letter, which was released yesterrday, was in response to Team Anna’s letter of May 26 in which it charged Manmohan Singh and 14 cabinet ministers of “massive corruption” and asked for independent probe.
Besides Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna also figured in the 79-page document prepared by Team Anna alleging their involvement in corruption.
Narayanasamy said the government had looked into the Team Anna’s demand for an independent probe by a special team into the allegations against the prime minister.
“Keeping in view that there is enough legal and constitutional structure available to look and act on issues raised by you, your demand (for probe by special team) cannot be accepted,” Narayanasamy said.
Manmohan Singh was in charge of the coal portfolio from November 2006 to May 2009.
Narayanasamy said the style of Team Anna’s letter and “long and loose” allegations in it were not acceptable.
“I regret to say that your statement that country’s highest institutions such as the Supreme Court, high court, CAG etc. had made allegations (against the ministers) from time to time is not only unclear but is not worth being accepted,” Narayanasamy said.
Targeting another member, Kiran Bedi, Narayanasamy said: “Kiran Bedi is accused of collecting money from organisations; she attended meetings by going economy class and then collecting the money for business class... and that allegation was proved and now she has refunded the money... this is the reputation.”
He said that as far as the agitation by yoga guru Baba Ramdev to bring back black money is concerned, the government has already submitted a white paper in parliament and is trying to bring back the money stashed in banks abroad.
“What is the reputation of Baba Ramdev, we all know,” he said.
According to the minister, the prime minister has assured transparency in coal allocation but there was no transparency during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule.
“Our government is a transparent government. The PM wanted to have a transparent form of coal block allocation in 2004. During the NDA government, there was no transparency,” he said.
Team Anna has been targeting the prime minister over the auction of coal blocks during the period he held the coal portfolio.
In Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari called Narayanasamy’s comment “unfair”.
“I think it is unfair to call anyone anti-national. There can be differences in opinion...if somebody campaigns against the government, then they cannot call them anti-national,” Gadkari told reporters in the national capital.
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