No compromise on corruption: Advani

B D Narayankar

Press Trust of India

Mangalore, Oct 31: With corruption charges against
partymen in Karnataka weighing heavily on his mind, senior BJP
leader L K Advani today said he was keen on visiting the state
as part of his Jan Chetna Yatra to address the 'shortcomings'.
On the second day of his tour in BJP ruled Karnataka, where
former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and some of his former
colleagues have been arrested on corruption charges, Advani
said there could be no compromise on the issue of corruption.
Though some people advised him to omit Karnataka, he said
he thought it fit to address the shortcomings in his party
than only worrying about corruption at the Centre.
"If there is any shortcoming in my party unit, I should be
more worried about it than only worrying about Central
Government's corruption," he told a public meeting here.
"The new Chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda has assured me
that he would not compromise on corruption," Advani said.
Noting that BJP and its allies were in power in nine
states, Advani said "...small things do happen. Even an MP and
an MLA confronts situation where he is charged or accused of
something, but not to this extent. Therefore I was very
particular that I cannot, under any circumstances, omit
Karnataka. I had to go to Karnataka," he said.
Attacking the UPA, the former deputy prime minister said
he had seen 15 Lok Sabha elections so far, but never seen a
government that was as corrupt as the present one led by
Manmohan Singh.
On the cash-for-votes scam, Advani said it had brought
shame to the country. "India was known for its vibrant
democracy, but now we have MPs who are sold for crores."
Referring to the black money issue, Advani said if Rs 25
lakh crore stashed away in Swiss banks is brought back to the
country, every village would have good roads, school,
electricity and other basic amenities.
On Kashmir issue, Advani said he would not tolerate
anything less than Kashmir remaining a part of India. "It
cannot happen that the Tricolour flies high in the rest of
India but not in Kashmir. This won't be tolerated."