The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday mounted a blistering attack on the Congress-led UPA government on the issue of black money and corruption.
Speaking at the party’s eighth national convention being held in Agra, Samajwadi president Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “Corruption begins from the government side and those around it in Delhi. If corruption had begun from any other side, persons responsible for it would have been put behind the bars. This is my direct allegation that the government’s intention is to promote loot and plundering.”
Mr Yadav, who was re-elected as the national president of the party for the eighth consecutive term, further said that price rise could be contained if the government had the will to do so. “The Prime Minister and his senior ministers say that they do not have a magic wand but I want to ask — if you cannot stop price rise then why you are promoting it,” he said.
The SP president said that the issue of black money had brought shame on the entire country.
Alleging that the government was not making any effort to bring back black money, Mr Yadav said, “I have been told that the amount of black money stashed in the foreign banks is so huge that if recovered back, it would pay off all the debts of the country and money would still be left for development.”
He demanded that black money should be brought back and education and treatment be made free. Mr Yadav said that the government knew the names of those who had stashed away black money in foreign banks but was reluctant to disclose their names. “The reason for this can easily be understood,” he added.