PM rejects BJP allegations against UPA on corruption

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today deprecated what he described as "malicious" propaganda by BJP that UPA Government failed to take harsh steps to check corruption and asserted "this accusation is completely false".

Seeking to turn tables at the opposition BJP and also Left parties, Singh accused them of not cooperating with the government in Parliament in its effort to enact more laws against corruption.

"We are accused of not trying hard enough to check corruption. This accusation is completely false. The truth is that we have taken more measures than any other government to contain corruption," Singh said addressing an election rally for the April 10 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala at the nearby Thoppumpady.

Wherever instances of wrong doing had come to light, strict legal action had been taken to bring the guilty to book, he asserted while rejecting BJP charge against his government on the issue of curbing corruption.

Taking a swipe at opposition parties, Singh said the Lokpal Act was a major step in the battle against corruption.

"We wanted to enact a few more laws for fighting corruption. But we could not make these laws because of total lack of cooperation by the opposition parties in Parliament.

I am placing these facts before you so that you can judge for yourself the reality about some of the parties which are so vocal against corruption," he said.

Slamming Left parties, which is leading the LDF, is main challenger for Congress-led UDF in 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, Singh said the influence of Left parties was bound to dwindle further in the future unless they changed in tune with the time.

"The people of India have recognised this and that is why the Left parties suffered heavy losses in the 2009 general elections and also lost Kerala and West Bengal in the subsequent assembly elections.

I believe that the Left parties will continue to decline unless they show some willingness to change their dogmatic ways of thinking", he said.

The Prime Minister said "with the Left parties poised to suffer even further losses this time, it is only Congress party that can counter the divisive ideology of BJP".

He condemned the increasing violent incidents in Kerala perpetrated by political adversaries and said the people of the state will outrightly reject this cult of violence. Kerala has shown that the state has "no space for a divisive party like BJP," he said.

Seeking to woo the electorate, Singh said the UPA government invested nearly Rs 70,000 crore in Kerala in the last 10 years, which has helped the state to achieve an impressive growth rate that is higher than the national average.

The Prime Minister listed some of the major Centrally sponsored development schemes like Kochi Metro Rail, Vallarpadam Container Transhipment Terminal, Petronet LNG plant, new International terminal building at Thiruvananthapuram, Ezhimala naval academy among others during his address.

In an attempt to placate the irked feelings of people in the backdrop of opposition to the Kasturirangan Report on Western Ghat Conservation, Singh promised the government would take a decision keeping in view the development needs of the state.