Making a point:Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee at a press conference in Kolkata on Sunday.
KOLKATA: Swamped by a host of issues raised by activists engaged in anti-corruption movements in recent times, the Congress leadership on Sunday announced a counter-campaign to take to the public its views on the matter and caution them against the “misleading propaganda” of a section of the Opposition.
Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee released a document in English here outlining the party's views on corruption and black money.
The document will be translated in other languages soon and made available to people.
“Debates, discussions and seminars will be organised from the State to block level to make people aware of the Congress view on these issues,” he said.
The document underscores the Congress “commitment” to root out corruption and take stern action against any person found to be corrupt — irrespective of his or her political affiliation.
It also highlights the steps taken by the United Progressive Alliance government to address the issue of black money and track such money stashed away in foreign banks.
Speaking of the recovery of Rs. 400 lakh crore black money and declaring it as ‘national asset' as demanded by the Opposition and a section of the civil society, Mr. Mukherjee said the Centre had already started entering into agreements with several countries regarded as tax havens to access details of accounts held by their banks.
The document terms “impractical and fraught with grave consequences” the demand to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500 denomination. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh find themselves at the receiving end in the document as it “cautions” people against the forces of “communalism, religious fundamentalism and right-wing extremism” that “embrace every cause and support every protest, however dubious, as long as they can gain some political mileage.”
Charging the BJP with trying to recover the lost political ground following setbacks both in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the document described the BJP as a “political instrument” of the RSS with both the outfits “attempting to denigrate democratic institutions…as part of their grand design to usurp power through undemocratic means.”
The document states that the BJP should “hang its head in shame” with several of its leaders and Ministers having been charged with corruption with no action taken by the party against them.
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