Congress, BJP in war of words over 'tainted' ministers in Cabinet

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his Cabinet, the Congress accused him of including “tainted” ministers in the government contrary to his election rhetoric of “cleaning up” Parliament of criminals.

The revamp exercise also sounded hollow and lacked rationale in shifting of ministers, especially when the finance minister has been given additional charge of Information and Broadcasting with which it has no synergy, it said.

Demanding an apology from the PM for his “failure” to deliver on his election promises, Congress General Secretary Ajai Maken also sought the resignation of newly inducted Minister Y S Chowdhury citing bank documents that claimed that his company has defaulted on repayment of Rs 317.6 crore of loans with Central Bank of India.

Claiming that two to three controversial new ministers were inducted in the expansion on Sunday, Maken said the number of “tainted” ministers has gone up to 15 to 16 out of the 66.

“Did you make him a minister to save him from default? The Modi government should come clean on it and the Minister should resign,” he said.

He alleged that another Ram Shankar Katheria, another minister inducted on Sunday, has a record of 23 cases against him in the affidavit he has filed with the Election Commission.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party hit back at the Congress over its claims saying the party was making baseless allegations owing to its own frustrations.             

“There are no tainted ministers or those with criminal records in the Union Cabinet. Cases pending against some are those which are politically-motivated by Congress or its alliance partners in which no proof has been provided in courts to substantiate the allegations,” said BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma.

“It is the frustration of the Congress that is coming out in the form of such false and baseless allegations aimed at tarnishing the image of the Modi government. Congress has no moral right to make such allegations as it has lost its credibility among the public,” added Sharma.

Image: PM Modi with his newly-inducted ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan.