No person guilty of corruption will be spared: PM

NEW DELHI - The government was conducting a “thorough probe” into the Commonwealth Games (CWG) organisation and 2G spectrum allocation scandals, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday while stressing that no person found guilty would be spared.

“These inquiries will be pursued vigorously. And it is my promise that no guilty person will be spared, whether he is a political leader or a government official, whichever party he may belong to and howsoever powerful he may be,” Manmohan Singh said at the Congress plenary session here.

“We are conducting a thorough probe into all aspects of the organisation of the Commonwealth Games and the 2G spectrum allocation. These inquiries will be pursued vigorously.”

“This session is taking place when various charges are being levelled our party and our government,” the prime minister said.

“Our objectives and principles are being suspected. Our record is being questioned for partisan political ends. It is being alleged that we are not sufficiently sensitive to the issue of corruption,” he admitted.

The prime minister said his government had always strived to eradicate corruption and would continue to do so. “Whether at the centre or in states, we have asked our ministers and chief ministers to step down merely on the basis of the suspicion because we practise and believe in principled politics.”

Taking a dig at the BJP, Manmohan Singh said: “We are not like some opposition parties which insist on retaining their tainted chief ministers despite scandal after scandal.”

Seeking the public’s cooperation to “prevent and expose” corruption, he said: “I also want to tell you, and through you to all our citizens, that if there are any shortcomings in the functioning of our government we will address them so that we can be more effective in our efforts to contain corruption.”

“If you come across corrupt practices, you must make your best effort to prevent and expose them,” he told the gathering of Congress delegates.