Accusing the Congress-led UPA government of attempting to “undermine” the authority of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and “weaken it by making this constitutional body a multi-member body,” BJP senior M. Venkaiah Naidu warned that the ruling party’s attempts would only boomerang as scams would not vanish if the government painted the CAG black.
“Scams will not go away by painting the CAG black. It is bound to boomerang on you and you will face the consequences,” Venkaiah Naidu warned. Speaking to reporters in Chennai on Monday he said whenever the Congress faced criticism, it attempted to weaken the institutions even if they were constitutional bodies.
Now the party has decided to take the battle to the streets by blaming the CAG of harbouring political ambitions, he said.
In the past too, Congress had attempted to tarnish the image of CAG in the
wrongful allocation of coal blocks, Bofors contract and HDW submarine deals and on 2G spectrum scam.
The CAG has been appointed under the provisions of the Indian Constitution to advise the government and it is not a “sarkari” organisation, Venkaiah said and flayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his assertion that the observations of CAG were disputable and would be challenged before Public Accounts Committee, which is already seized of the matter.
Referring to Union minister of state in PMO V. Narayanasamy’s remarks on CAG, he said it clearly indicated that Congress was not able to digest the autonomy of the official auditor.