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Congress, BJP spar over Rai’s remark New Delhi, August 24 Attacking the Congress over Rai’s claims, the saffron party termed them as “bullying tactics” by former incumbent at the Centre to shield the corrupt. The Congress suspects the latest book bomb to hit the party a BJP handiwork but trashing such observations the saffron party used Rai’s disclosures to nail its main political rival. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress had “nowhere to hide” after the exposure of the “bitter truth that the country knew since long”. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari asked, "Was the statement of former CAG a nugget of his imagination which he had saved for a later date? Was it not incumbent on him to bring these issues to the notice of the then Government when he was still in office?" Tewari also said that the former CAG was trying to generate publicity for his forthcoming book. "Why did he not speak up earlier? Why now?" asked AICC general secretary and Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed adding that it was routine these days for book authors to make such disclosures in a bid to sell their books. Rai had claimed that coalition functionaries had deputed politicians to get him leave out names from the audit reports in the Coalgate and Commonwealth Games scams. He has also claimed that the UPA functionaries had roped in even his colleagues in the IAS to persuade him to leave out the names. Continuing the tirade, BJP’s Patra said, "The BJP’s awareness campaign about corruption in the UPA stands vindicated. The Congress has nowhere to hide. The latest revelations are a proof how the Congress has always tried to subvert Constitutional institutions for personal gains. "It shows that the Congress was interested in retaining power than fighting corruption. It used bullying tactics with Constitutional institutions to prevent them from projecting the truth," the BJP spokesman
added. NCP’s Tariq Anwar backed the Congress saying former bureaucrats found it convenient to make such statements after exiting office and these developments were “unfortunate”. Samajwadi Party said it had become fashionable for retired bureaucrats seeking post-retirement jobs to make sensational disclosures after demitting office. SP’s Naresh Agarwal said, "There should be guidelines to prevent retired bureaucrats from getting government jobs for 10 years post retirement. Former CAG is also writing a book and perhaps wants to join the BJP by damning the former PM.” Rai’s book “Not Just an Accountant” set for September 15 release is expected to make some damning revelations about the former PM Manmohan Singh’s “coalition compulsions’ in not dealing with his corrupt ministers firmly. This is the third book in a series with a potential to embarrass the Congress which today questioned the delay on Rai’s part in making the aforesaid disclosures. Earlier, Manmohan Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru also made similar disclosures about the relationship between Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the eve of his book's release. What ex-CAG said
"The BJP’s awareness campaign about corruption in the UPA stands vindicated. The Congress has nowhere to hide. The latest revelations are a proof how the Congress has always tried to subvert Constitutional institutions for personal gains" Sambit Patra, BJP spokesman "Was the statement of former CAG a nugget of his imagination which he had saved for a later date? Was it not incumbent on him to bring these issues to the notice of the then government when he was still in office?" Manish Tewari, Cong spokesman
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