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New Delhi, Sept. 10: The Congress today alleged a “meeting of minds” between the BJP and the comptroller and auditor general and asked whether the latter was misusing his constitutional credibility, making its first personal attack on the official.
Till now, the Congress had maintained it was only questioning CAG Vinod Rai’s findings and not making any insinuations against the constitutional authority.
But spokesperson Manish Tewari today said: “Is the meeting of minds between the CAG and the BJP merely a coincidence or is there more to it? Is the CAG misusing its constitutional credibility? If he is doing so, why?”
Asked if he was accusing the CAG of working for a political party, Tewari said: “We are only bringing some facts into the public domain. The trajectory of coincidences is uncanny. Whether the congruence is institutional or personal is for you to decide.”
Tewari mentioned how a BJP leader had contacted the CAG about a report that had not been tabled in Parliament. The conversation is recorded in the CAG minutes and the BJP leader has been identified as Murli Manohar Joshi.
Tewari blamed the CAG and the BJP equally for the waste of Parliament’s monsoon session.
“The CAG has been tossing up presumptive, hypothetical and mythical figures in the public domain which has made the public discourse toxic, created roadblocks (for) the growth process and tarred India’s image,” he said.
His remarks reflected the Congress’s antipathy towards Rai, who can only be removed through impeachment — an option the party considers too risky to exercise now.“You can challenge a judicial pronouncement in a higher court but where do you go for redress on a CAG report? It has to be brought to the public domain,” Tewari said.
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