'All parties are corrupt and looting natural resources'

Ghaziabad, Aug 18: The erstwhile

has slammed the political class, saying all parties were equally responsible for corruption and benefitting by 'looting' the nation's natural resources. The tabling of the CAG reports on coal block allocation, power and Delhi airport moved the crusaders against corruption to make such a comment.

Arvind Kejriwal, who recently undertook a fast programme in New Delhi against corruption, said all parties were involved in the corrupt practices and do not want to pass the Lokpal Bill. He added that the states were no less corrupt and backed private companies to reap benefits.

Kejriwal said this was the precise reason for which they demanded a special investigation team (SIT) to be set up independently to probe charges of corruption against 15 ministers. The government turned down the demand in June saying the current system was equipped enough to deal with such issues.

A member of the former Team Anna said even the CPI(M) in West Bengal was silent on the matter and did not oppose the move to allot coal blocks to private properties when it was in power. He said an FIR should be lodged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Kejriwal said if there was a Jan Lokpal, then they could have taken a step on the basis of the recent reports and a probe would have been initiated and completed within six months. "The accused would have been in jail in one and a half years," he said.

Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer and another Team Anna member, said the CAG report on Delhi airport revealed how public-private partnership lead to using of public resources for private benefits. He said all these report shows to what scale loot and corruption were taking place in the country. "But who will stop it and will any investigation be allowed?" he asked.

OneIndia News

(With PTI inputs)