Gehlot says Vinod Rai's apology exposes conspiracy to unseat UPA govt

Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday hit out at former Comptroller and Audit General of India (CAG), Vinod Rai saying that the country today is "suffering badly" as a result of the conspiracies hatched by the former CAG to "tarnish" the image of the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government.

CAG Vinod Rai on Thursday had tendered an unconditional apology to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam for "wrongly mentioning" him as one of the MPs who had pressured him not to name former prime minister Manmohan Singh in the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation.

Vinod Rai had included Nirupam's name as one among those MP's in a book in 2014 against which Nirupam had filed a defamation case against Rai. He also had repeated the allegation in interviews to the media.

Accusing Rai of lowering the dignity of the constitutional post of CAG, which he held during the UPA government's rule, Gehlot said the "nation was misled over alleged scams of 2G spectrum allocation and coal block allocation and as a result of it, the BJP came to power at the Centre which has brought democracy under critical threat".

Gehlot also asked the people to understand the "gravity of the threat to democracy and social fabric" under the BJP rule.

"What Vinod Rai did as the CAG to destabilize the then UPA government is highly condemnable. He held a very important constitutional post which has a sanctity, but Rai not only tarnished the dignity of the post but also paved the way for a fascist force to come to power at the Centre, due to which the nation is suffering badly today," Gehlot said.

"Vinod Rai stands exposed, and countrymen need to understand the conspiracy and its impact on them," Gehlot told PTI.

"With this, the conspiracy which was hatched to unseat the then UPA government has been exposed. As a result of the conspiracy to tarnish the image of the UPA government and misleading people, a force which is communal and fascist came to power which has no faith in democracy," he alleged.

He asked where the 2G spectrum case and coal gate have gone now.

Gehlot said, "Democracy flourished under the Congress rule but now it is facing serious challenges and there is a need to think about it by the people." "There is an atmosphere of tension in the country and people are suffering due to skyrocketing inflation and hike in fuel prices, social fabric has been hit, the decision-making power of the bureaucracy has come down," the Congress leader said.

Gehlot said that instead of presenting a vision and roadmap to revive the economy, providing employment opportunities and giving relief from unprecedented inflation and fuel prices hike, the "government is setting narratives to divert public attention from the real issues which people, particularly youths, need to understand".

He accused the Modi government of misusing CBI, ED, Income tax department and reiterated that the "judiciary is working under pressure".

He charged that the governments at the Centre and the one led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh, were trying to divide people in the name of religion.

"Country needs sincere efforts for the revival of the economy and curbing inflation. Youths need employment opportunities, small businessmen need growth opportunities, farmers need support but the government is neglecting the economy, serving interests of a few capitalists instead of the interest of countrymen, putting national assets created by Congress governments in 70 years to sale," he said.

Gehlot accused the central government of engaging the people in communal narratives to divert their attention from real issues.

"The Congress created huge infrastructure in the country and pushed development in 70 years but the government is now selling the national assets. Democracy was kept intact by the Congress, but today it is under threat," he claimed.

(Based on PTiI feed with minor edits)