NEW DELHI: The BJP staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha to highlight corruption “as symbolized” by the Bofors case and the “wrong” economic policies of the government which had led to price rises and unemployment.
Its members in the Rajya Sabha led by Sikandar Bakhtalso walked out of the House in protest against the economic policies.
The Bofors issue was raised in the Lok Sabhaduring zero hours by Jaswant Singh (BJP) who deplored the undue delay in completing the investigation. He said the Congress had first out rightly denied any irregularity in the gun deal. This was followed by a joint parliamentary probe which only served to obfuscate the issue. He alleged that attempts were now being made to scuttle the CBI inquiry both inside and outside the county.
Referring to the “new revelations” that had come to light last month in newspaper reports Jaswant Singh urged the government to come forward with a detailed statement. Amid protests from the Congress members he said the scandal had sullied the name of the former Prime Minister and the Congress should in its own interest try to get his name cleared. He pointed out that the five-year limit relating to disclosure of details of such cases in Sweden would be ending within a few days and there might be many statements on the Bofors issue.
His views were shared by among others the CPM leader Somnath Chatter jee Ram Vilas Paswan (Ganata Dal) Inderit Gupta (CP) and Rabi Ray Janata Dal) besides the leader of the opposition L.K. Advani.
“The minister for parliamentary affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad noted that the government had always expressed its willingness to hold a discussion on the subject. It had done so at a meeting of the business advisory committee of the House as well. He asserted that the government was not interested in the CPI by the KGB was a far more serious issue than Bofors and said he was glad that the BJP had chosen now to restore the priority accorded to it. He recalled that the officer who had been handling the case in the CBI was recently given some other assignment. It was not just a political issue; it involved the country’s prestige and could not be brushed under the carpet.
Advani wanted the government to make a comprehensive statement in light of the new revelations. Without that no useful purpose would be served by a discussion. The question was whether the government was trying to scuttle the investigation.
The BJP leader said corruption could not be stopped until the guilty were brought to justice. He then referred to price rises and unemployment stemming from the governments “wrong” economic policies and declared his party’s decision to stage a walkout.
Article extracted from this publication >> April 10, 1992
