PM should break silence on war room leak case: BJP

New Delhi, Jun 25 : Blaming a ''cover-up'' for the slow progress in investigations into the sensational Naval War Room leak case, the Bharatiya Janata Party today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to break his silence in the matter and explain its national security implications to the country.

''Why did the government allow unconscionable delay in action against the accused? Isn't this delay a part of the cover-up operation? Couldn't the delay have helped the accused to tamper with the evidence?,'' Leader of the Opposition and former party chief L K Advani said here while addressing a function to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the declaration of Emergency.

''I would like the Prime Minister to break his silence in this matter,'' he said.

While reiterating the NDA's charge that the War Room leak was linked to the Rs 18,000 crore Scorpene submarine deal, he asked the government to disclose the identity of the ''foreigners'' allegedly involved in the case.

The Prime Minister's statement was all the more necessary since the CBI's country-wide raids in connection with the case pointed at a ''larger conspiracy'' behind the whole episode, he said.

The CBI action, though belated, had vindicated the NDA's stand, he maintained.

Mr Advani said ''very ominous'' signals went out from the episode since the names of several retired Navy and Army officers had come up during investigations. The CBI had also raided the offices and farmhouse of a well-known businessman linked to both the War Room leak as well as the Scorpene deal, he pointed out.

The Leader of the Opposition hit out at the UPA government saying it had brazenly ''enslaved the CBI'' and subverted the institutions of governance to ''gift'' Italian fugitive Ottavio Quattrocchi ''not only freedom but also 20 crore rupees of impounded money in the Bofors scam''.

The Congress should also explain its case in the Volcker episode in which former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh had complained that he was being made a scapegoat, he said.

While saying that the Governor's office was ''misused'' to subvert people's mandate in Bihar, Jharkhand and Goa in the recent past and criticising the Congress for what he called was a ''culture of sychophancy'', he claimed that the Congress had not changed since the days of Emergency.

It was unfortunate that some of the parties and individuals that had opposed late Indira Gandhi during Emergency and participated in the anti-corruption crusade under Jaiprakash Narayan were now part of the ruling establishment, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, party General Secretary Arun Jaitley alleged the Congress was trying to subvert the working of the Election Commission as well. He said he saw this design in the party's attempt to protect Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who he claimed had supported excesses on political opponents during Emergency.

Party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra also spoke in similar vein at the ''Save Democracy Day'' function, organised by the Delhi BJP unit.

UNI