BJP, Congress guarded on court summons to Manmohan Singh

Calculated restraint by the ruling BJP was matched by the tepid defence of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by his own party in the wake of him being summoned by a Delhi court in the Hindalco coal block allocation case.

Singh’s “clean” image underlined political responses to news of his alleged involvement in the coal scam with a number of senior politicians, both within the ruling party and the Opposition, rushing to vouch for his integrity even when they attacked the Congress for various scams.

A senior Minister told BusinessLine there could be “no question” on the former Prime Minister’s personal integrity although the BJP has consistently raised the fact that he “turned a blind eye” to corruption around him.

“If correspondence between him and A. Raja (former Telecom Minister) in the 2G Spectrum allocation scam is examined, it is easy to see that he was uncomfortable with what was going on. Even on the coal block allocation, he was the first to state that there should be competitive bidding. So, we do not doubt that Singh’s personal integrity was impeccable. But having said that, it is equally easy to see that what he is guilty of is the crime of omission. He allowed corruption to fester around him,” the Minister said.

The sentiment echoed in the responses of various Ministers and BJP spokespersons. What the ruling party seemed extremely conscious of is to make a clear distinction between its official position on the coal scam and the working of the CBI.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “What the investigating agency and the courts are doing is completely independent of what the BJP has to say on the matter. The fact is that we have, at various stages, highlighted the role of the former Prime Minister and his office in this scam. But that has nothing to do with how the scam is investigated and what view the courts take. Please do not politicise this issue.”Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself stressed that the Government will not pursue “the politics of victimisation”. “The days when the CBI was used to hound political opponents are over. The Prime Minister and the Government are following a constructive agenda,” she said.

While most other political parties, such as the Janata Dal (United), took a clear view that Singh’s personal integrity is beyond question, the responses from the Congress were not as aggressive.

There was no comment from the Congress President Sonia Gandhi or its Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. Even the other spokespersons, such as former Minister Kapil Sibal, responded only when approached by reporters. Officially, the Congress fielded Haryana MLA Randeep Surjewala to defend Singh. “Singh’s integrity, fairness, impartiality and adherence to transparency is unimpeachable and unquestionable,” said Surjewala. He accused the BJP of trying to politicise an on-going judicial process.