CAG hands BJP culling card

Its tail up following the end to the Karnataka crisis, the BJP and its allies mounted a concerted attack on the Congress and the UPA-II government, going for its jugular — attacking the PM and seeking his resignation after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the Commonwealth Games (CWG) was tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The BJP onslaught drew sustenance from the CAG report which confirmed its allegations though it was another matter that it wanted revenge for Yeddyurappa.

It not only sought the immediate removal of Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, but also targeted Manmohan Singh for alleged mismanagement of the CWG by giving a free hand to Suresh Kalmadi.

The BJP asked the PM to own up guilt and quit on moral grounds.

“Whether it is 2G, or CWG or Coal Block allocations, there is conspiracy, corruption and complicity in which the PMO is actively guilty of culpability. PM can’t plead innocence and ignorance. PM is the man responsible and he must own up his mistakes and resign,” said BJP leader Prakash Javadekar.

The CAG report blamed the PMO for the CWG mess for its inability to reign in Kalmadi despite opposition and warnings from various sports ministers and officials of the sports ministry.

It blamed the PMO for recommending Kalmadi’s appointment as the chairman of the Organising Committee in December 2004 despite serious objections from Sunil Dutt, former minister for sports.

Besides, the government headed by Manmohan Singh failed to take cognisance of an audit done in July 2009 in which CAG had recommended that the government should revisit the model of governance for a smooth and successful delivery of the CWG, the CAG said.

“This decision facilitated the conversion of the originally envisaged Government-owned OC into a body outside the governmental control, without commensurate accountability to Government and concomitant controls to ensure propriety and transparency, (despite full financial guarantee and funding from the Government). Attempts in 2007 by sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and then sports secretary S K Arora with the PMO, the Group of Ministers (GoM) and the Cabinet Secretariat highlighting the ineffective position of the Sports Ministry in exercising control over the OC, met with strong resistance from the Chairman OC, and were, hence, rendered unfruitful,” the report said.

The report said that in the absence of a single point of authority and accountability and the lack of clear governance structure, a multiplicity of co-ordination committees were created, disbanded, and reconstituted at different points of time which led to complete diffusion of accountability.

The CAG felt that an early decision/action on the governance structure of the games with a single point of authority and accountability could have made the games delivery process less painful, more streamlined and accountable.

The CAG pinpointed the Delhi government led by Sheila Dikshit, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and CWG Organising Committee headed by Suresh Kalmadi, the Delhi Development Authority, and the Government of India for delays that led to price escalation and huge loss to the exchequer.

A total of 33 departments/agencies have been named, financial irregularities duly noted. However, no total loss was quantified because bills and payment were pending.

“The CAG document should be taken as a first information document and acted upon. All information given in the report must be looked into. This hijacking of the games needs serious investigation,” BJP’s leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, said.

Countering the opposition, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said the CAG report could not be compared to the Karnataka Lokayukta report.

“If someone objects to a specific contract given under a particular decision, that particular contract is found not the best possible contract and there are certain features that have to be explained, that can’t be put in same category as what happened in Karnataka,” said Khurshid.

The BJP, however, insisted that Dikshit would have to go. “Either she should resign or the Congress party should sack her. She has been indicted in the Shunglu committee report and now the CAG. Two reports against her make it a strong case for her removal,” said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The party plans to intensify its attack in the coming days unless Dikshit was removed, who on her part said that as she had not seen the CAG report, it would not be right for her to comment.