NEWDELHI: The opposition on Tuesday attacked the government for various scams taking place across the country. It particularly targeted the government for allocation of 2G spectrum, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh housing scam and said that the resignation of Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was "not enough" to curb the on going curruption.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in Lok sabha, leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia, and JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav demanded thorough probe into the scams as well as a statement from the government, saying it was a matter of concern that so many "major scams" had taken place in the past three-four years.
"The entire nation has been ashamed. Though he (Chavan) has resigned, mere quitting the post of Chief Minister is not enough. An independent probe into the Adarsh Housing Society scam is needed. Government owes an explanation to the people," said Acharia and sought punishment to all those found guilty, including the "political bosses".
Agreeing with the CPI(M) leader, Swaraj said apart from the scams mentioned by him, there were "major scandals" even in the government’s flagship programmes like national rural employment guarantee scheme and highways projects.
Sharad Yadav also demanded a full-fledged debate on the scams saying "corruption was spreading in all spheres of lives, like blood in our veins". He claimed that the CWG scam involved as high as Rs 70,000 crore to 90,000 crore.
Congress member Suresh Kalmadi, who is chairman of the Organising Committee of the CWG, was not present in the House when the issue was raised. Kalmadi’s resignation as Congress Parliamentarty Secretary was accepted by party chief Sonia Gandhi shortly before the start of the Winter Session.
When Yadav spoke of the Adarsh housing scandal in Maharashtra and said the land for the project belonged to the Defence department and was meant for the widows of Kargil martyrs, Congress members were on their feet saying "why don’t you talk of the Kargil coffin scam."