Congress questions CAG

Congress party on Tuesday questioned whether Comptroller and Auditor General, CAG has the mandate to comment on the appointments and the policy of the government. Opposition on the other hand held UPA government responsible for the appointment of Suresh Kalmadi as Chief of the Organizing Committee of the CWG 2010. Strongly refuting the opposition charge in the Lok Sabha, Manish Tiwari of Congress made a case that the CAG has the mandate only to scrutinize the financial expenditure of the government. He cautioned the members that the unbridled power given to CAG and the judiciary did not augur well for the future of the parliamentary democracy. Amidst heated exchanges, and noisy scenes Mr. Manish Tiwari charged the BJP of adopting double standards on the CAG reports. He said, while it is gunning for Delhi Chief Minister in the wake of report, the saffron party is keeping silent on report of the CAG about NDA ruled states.Initiating the debate, Mr. Basudeb Acharia of CPIM alleged that the Prime Minister's office was responsible for the appointment of Kalmadi and the UPA Chairperson was aware of it. Pointing out huge spending on the Organization of games, he called for resignation of Delhi Chief Minister. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha participating in the debate quoted from the official records and correspondence and said if Suresh Kalmadi could be removed from the post in 2011, what stopped the UPA government to take similar action against him earlier despite strong reservations by successive Sports Ministers. There was exchange of hot words between the BJP and the Congress benches after Mr. Yashwant Sinha made comic remarks about the former Jharkhand Chief Minister. This led to the adjournment of the House for 45 minutes. Initiating the debate in the Rajya Sabha, leader of Opposition, Arun Jaitley traced the sequence of events leading to the appointment of OC Chairman. Mr. Jaitley alleged that the leaked CWG report pointed fingers towards Prime Minister's office and the Prime Minister for Kalmadi's appointment during 2003-2004 when there was change in government at the centre. Mr. Jaitley said, that three former Sports Ministers Sunil Dutt, Mani Shankar Aiyer and M.S. Gill had objected to Kalmadi being made the Organizing committee chairman. Mr. Jaitley asserted that the present Rajya Sabha members and former Sports Ministers Mani Shankar Aiyer and M.S. Gill had noted their adverse remarks. The Leader of Opposition pointedly remarked that the present Sports Minister Ajay Maken's statement reveals little but conceals a great deal of what had happened.Strongly supporting the government, Rashid Alvi of the Congress questioned the authority of CAG for making remarks on appointments and policies of the government. CPIM's Prasanta Chatterjee demanded resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and sought clarifications from the Prime Minister. The House saw repeated adjournments. The opposition members also trooped into the well, pressing for the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister.