LK Advani labels Congress-led UPA govt as 'most corrupt'

BJP leader LK Advani on Thursday targeted the Congress-led UPA government, accusing it of being the "most corrupt" since Independence.

"Corruption and blackmoney are the biggest cause behind the price rise. The day corruption will be rooted out and Rs 25 lakh crore blackmoney deposited in foreign banks come back in the country, nobody can stop Ram Rajya...," Advani said while addressing an election meeting here.

"Since 1952 when the first polls were held, I have witnessed all the 15 general elections. I have also seen all the governments from Pandit Nehru upto Manmohan Singh, but such a corrupt government was never there," he claimed.

Advani alleged that this was the first government whose "number of ministers had to go to jail on corruption charges and many more are in the line".

The BJP leader also prayed for long life of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was the MP from Lucknow from 1991 to 2009.

He appealed people to vote in large numbers to ensure victory of BJP candidates in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Earlier, BJP national president Nitin Gadkari alleged that Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP were responsible for the price rise and corruption.

Referring to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi tearing up a poll manifesto, Gadkari said that it was an "evidence of political immaturity".

Accusing Samajwadi Party and BSP of supporting UPA on 2G spectrum case, the BJP president alleged that "they were together at the Centre and indulging in shadow boxing in Uttar Pradesh".

Gadkari also accused Congress party of following a policy of appeasement of Muslim community, saying that "its leader says that after watching the pictures of Batla House, party president Sonia Gandhi had tears in her eyes".

Putting Congress and SP in the dock on the Muslim reservation issue, Gadkari said that while one party was talking about 9 per cent quota, another was promising 18 per cent.

"The two parties must tell that from whose quota, whether Dalits or OBCs, this quota would be carved out as more than 50 per cent is not possible without a constitutional amendment...," he demanded.

Harping on the achievements of BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in Bihar, Gadkari said that "the vision and ability to turn Uttar Pradesh into a Uttam Pradesh is with BJP alone".

At the same rally, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan took potshots at Rahul Gandhi, saying "he (Rahul) claims of lifting UP in five years, but he should first lift Delhi."