Thousands of protesters gathered in New Delhi on Wednesday to demonstrate against alleged government corruption as opposition parties launched a nation-wide series of rallies. The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and its allies called for regular protests after the ruling Congress party was hit by a slew of corruption cases, including a massive telecom scandal that has rocked the government.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this week fought back against accusations he failed to stop his telecom minister from selling mobile phone licences at knock-down prices that cost the treasury billions of dollars. The opposition has been keen to take advantage of the scandal, paralysing parliament for the whole of its recent session by protesting every day on the floor of the lower house.
"Today is the launch of our anti-corruption campaign," BJP leader L.K. Advani told cheering crowds in the Indian capital. "From now on, the prime minister will be on the cross-hairs of our attack." Singh said Monday he had "nothing to hide" as he offered to be quizzed by a parliamentary panel over the controversy.
The BJP has been demanding a cross-party probe into the sale of the second-generation (2G) licences, which a national audit watchdog said may have lost the government up to 40 billion dollars. Singh has repeatedly rebuffed such demands, saying police and other authorities are investigating the sales in 2008 when A. Raja was telecom minister. Raja belongs to a regional party that the Congress party relies on to hold power as part of a coalition. The BJP and its allies are also demanding more probes into financial irregularities surrounding the Commonwealth Games in Delhi and into a housing scam in Mumbai that forced the Congress state chief minister to resign.
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