Gadkari slams UPA over corruption, Bofors

Kolkata, Jan 13: Targeting Congress-led UPA again on the issue of corruption, BJP on Jan 13 accused Congress of looting the country and stuck to its allegation of Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi having close proximity with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"Congress is looting the country. It has indulged in2G spectrum and CWG scam which amounts to Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

"Congress, which ruled the country for 56 years, gave the garibihatao slogan, but the poor remained poor. The party should answer," BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said while flagging off the party's Srinagar-bound ''Rastriya Ekta Yatra."

Gadkari alleged that Quattrochi, the key accused in the Bofors gun deal, had free access to Sonia Gandhi's residence and had visited it 27 times as admitted by his driver during interrogation by the CBI and demanded that she should come clean on the issue.

Accusing the Congress-led ruling alliance of having failed to deliver, Gadkari said, "50 percent of the country's population earned only Rs 20 per day after 63 years of independence and were buying onions at Rs 80 a kg within flation at over 18 percent."

The BJP president also alleged that Congress was indulging in vote bank politics and encouraging infiltration from neighbouring Bangladesh.

''Rastriya Ekta Yatra'' from Kolkata to Kashmir has been organised by Bharatiya Janata Yuba Morcha, BJP's youth wing.

BJYM president Anurag Thakur, BJP Mahila Morcha president Smriti Irani and state BJP chief Rahul Sinha were present during the flag-off.

PTI