Author: Muralidhar Reddy
Publication: The Hindu
Date: March 4, 2011
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2011/03/04/stories/2011030464701400.htm
The BJP on Thursday asserted that as the representative
of the three-member team for appointing P.J. Thomas Central Vigilance Commissioner
(who has since resigned) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should fix 'accountability'
for the decision.
Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict quashing
the appointment of Mr. Thomas, the party skirted questions whether it would
seek Dr. Singh's resignation on the plea that it would prefer to wait for
a response from Dr. Singh.
The BJP leaders are elated at the judgment,
particularly since Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Sushma
Swaraj, who was part of the three-member panel, had disagreed with the appointment.
At the same time, the BJP does not appear to be in a mood to rock the boat
of the Manmohan government. "What is the point of asking the resignation
of the Prime Minister? It is for the government to make an assessment of the
current situation. The overall state of affairs is so bad that I feel like
crying," National Democratic Alliance working chairman L.K. Advani told
journalists.
Mr. Advani charged that both Congress president
Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister were responsible for the 'mess' and Dr.
Singh could not claim that he was not informed of the pending corruption case
against Mr. Thomas as Ms. Swaraj had raised the issue.
Ms. Swaraj had voiced her dissent to the government
proposal of appointing Mr. Thomas. Home Minister P. Chidambaram is the third
member on the panel.
The former Deputy Prime Minister contended
that though there was no hard and fast rule, the fact that the Leader of the
Opposition was part of the committee indicated that the appointment had to
be made by consensus.
On the Supreme Court verdict, Ms. Swaraj said:
"I am happy the dignity of the office of CVC is restored. I am now waiting
for a statement from the Prime Minister or the government. Depending on the
statement I would respond accordingly."
BJP leaders said that at a 45-minute meeting
of the committee, Mr. Chidambaram tried in vain to convince Ms. Swaraj that
Mr. Thomas had been cleared of the corruption charges.
Dr. Singh and Mr. Chidambaram did not agree
to Ms. Swaraj's proposal that the government appoint either of the other two
members in the list. In response to her plea to postpone the decision by a
day, the Prime Minister reportedly said that the appointment could not wait
as the swearing-in ceremony of the incumbent CVC had been fixed for later
in the day.
Bijoy Chatterjee and Subbaroyan Krishnan were
the other two members in the list put up for consideration by the committee.
"It is too much of a coincidence that all the three were secretaries
of DMK Ministers. The 2G licence scam had already surfaced and the government
zeroed in on Mr. Thomas, who was the then Telecom Secretary," a senior
BJP leader said.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
Arun Jaitley said the government should have anticipated the court verdict.
Dr. Singh should 'introspect on whether he was misled or he deliberately allowed
himself to be misled" in the appointment of Mr. Thomas.
Design seen
In a statement, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar
Prasad said, "It is evident that the government knew that his appointment,
because of his tainted record, would give rise to a controversy. Yet, it went
about appointing him in a very determined manner. Obviously, there was a design
behind this determination. The surrounding circumstances are too suspicious"
The BJP spokesman cited the oft-repeated statement
of Dr. Singh that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and said the country
was entitled to know on what benchmark the Prime Minister was going to judge
himself.
