Blaming constitutional authorities for widespread perception about corruption, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the situation is “not worse” during the UPA rule.
“I agree there is corruption...I won’t say it got worse,” he told BBC in an interview, when asked that 92 per cent of people surveyed believe that the corruption situation has worsened during the UPA regime.
Corruption, the Minister said, “has been magnified...We are now looking at policy decisions on which there can be debate as instances of corruption and since these have been magnified by some constitutional authorities, there is a widespread perception that corruption has become worse”. The government, he added, is aware of the problem and is dealing with it.
The Congress-led UPA government has faced a series of corruption allegations. These include 2G spectrum allocation, coal block distribution, Adarsh society and conduct of Commonwealth Games. The alleged scams surfaced following reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), a constitutional body.
Chidambaram retorted by saying that corruption was not only limited to India, but is being witnessed in other countries also.
On a large number of MPs and State legislators facing criminal chargers, he said: “That is no different from what we read, say in The Economist or The Time or in The Wall Street Journal, about law makers in other countries”.
On the prospects of success in the forthcoming general elections, the Minister said: “Rahul Gandhi is young. He has now being named as the leader of the election campaign. He may lead us to victory in 2014. But even if he doesn’t, can you assert that he cannot lead us to victory in the next election?”
Chidambaram further said the UPA has been in office for the past 10 years and might have made some mistakes and (also had) successes.
“People will vote and decide whether they want to re-elect us or not,” he added.
“I agree there is corruption (in UPA rule) ...I won’t say it got worse.”