Former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan (Photo: PTI)Terming former environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan's allegations against Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi of meddling in her work as baseless, party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Friday asserted that his party had given her full support and that her "accusations were really uncalled for"."First of all it is absolutely wrong that either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi ever interfered with the functioning of the UPA government. The ministers were free to take decisions.
Digvijaya Singh"One
thing I know that Rahul Gandhi will be the last person to interfere in
the functioning of any ministry because if he wanted ever to become a PM
or a minister he could have had his way," Singh told reporters.Asked if her allegations were true, Singh said: "I think this kind of an allegation from someone who got everything she wanted in her life till now from the Congress party...this kind of an allegation is really uncalled for."
Jayanthi Natarajan on Friday announced her decision to quit Congress after her emotional letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi became public. She maintained in her letter that the party's decision to sack her as environment minister without any wrongdoing had ruined her career and her reputation.
"These are baseless allegations. She has no facts. Why did Jayanthi Natarajan kept quiet then? Jayanthi Natarjan speaking up now clearly shows that she has been promised some kind of benefit from another party," said Congress' Shobha Oza.
Congress leader Rajeev Shukla"As
long as you are a minister, holding positions, Congress is good,
Sonia-ji is good, Rahul-ji is good. The moment you have been asked to
resign, Congress is bad, Sonia-ji is bad, Rahul-ji is bad. What is
this?" said Congress leader Rajeev Shukla.Natarajan, a former Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, gives a blow-by-blow account of her ouster, apparently at the orders of Rahul Gandhi, and how negative stories had been planted against her by her own party to make her a scapegoat.
Must Read: Jayanthi Natarajan quits Congress after letter bomb against Rahul
Reacting to Natarajan's allegations of Congress, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that "It has now become fully clear how the UPA government was run with a remote control. No further proof is needed.
"The party's meddling in the government, and that too not in a constitutional way, has now been confirmed," she said.
"Natarajan's allegations are very serious and therefore all the files pertaining to environmental clearances handled by her should be reviewed," Sitharaman added.
She also accused the Congress of encouraging "crony capitalism".
Terming Natarajan's charge of specific requests on green clearances as a "serious issue", Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said he would review the files where allegations of extraneous influence have been mentioned.
Also Read: UPA govt practised sadistic economics, Jaitley on Natarajan's letter
"The revelations made by Jayanthi Natarajan in her letter to Sonia Gandhi, which have become public today, are a matter of great concern and is a serious issue," he said.
Natarajan had written a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi alleging that she had received specific requests from Rahul Gandhi on environmental clearances and consequently had rejected big ticket projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment