Prashant Bhushan denies calling PM 'Shikhandi'

New Delhi, May 29: Team Anna member

on Tuesday said that he did not call Prime Minister

a 'Shikhandi' but blamed the

leadership of shielding

in the government.

"I did not call the Prime Minister a 'Shikhandi'. We also know that he is personally not corrupt. But, when PM lets corruption flourish under his leadership, what is the point of personal honesty. Congress party uses him as a 'kavach', or shield just as Shikhandi was used as a shield in Mahabharata," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Bhushan has also written a letter to External Affairs Minister SM Krishna, accusing him of corruption. "You have strenuously opposed the investigation by the Lokayukta police ordered by High Court into your alleged role in the deservation of huge tracts of forest land for mining by private corporations, only strengthens the suspicions about your guilt in this matter. Stay order or that the matter is subjudice does not detract from the need for an independent investigation," he said.

Earlier, prominent Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Bhushan had written to the Prime Minister demanding setting up of a Special Investigation Team to probe cases of corruption against 15 ministers, including PM, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

It cited portions of a draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to make charges against the Prime Minister when the Coal Ministry was with him.

PTI