Gen.V.K.Singh has told The Hindu that he was offered a bribe of Rs.14 crore by an equipment lobbyist to facilitate purchase of substandard vehicles by the Indian Army. The General duly informed this incident to the Defence Minister, A.K.Antony. When asked whether the General did inform the minister, Antony responded, "the Parliament is in session". The supposedly cleanest minister in the scam-ridden cabinet is apparently buying time to formulate his strategy after perhaps consulting the persons involved.
The GoM (Group of Ministers) headed by Pranabda is now in session to discuss this grave issue. Manmohan Singh has been "asked" to attend as a "special invitee" without the right either to hear or to contribute to the discussions. So the Prime Minister is pleased to attend the meeting. The views expressed during the meeting are:
Antony: "There are two views on whether the Army Chief informed me or not. My secretary says I was not informed. I stand by my secretary's version".
Sharad Pawar: "Who chose V.K.Singh as the Army Chief? Poor chap, he is talking about a piddly amount of Rs.14 crore. Sack him immediately and post someone who will not value any amount less than Rs.1000 crore. Should we not maintain our country's prestige?"
Chidambaram: "Who will talk about corruption? He must be in team Anna. Or is he a Naxal? In either case, it is dangerous to keep him free. I am ordering his immediate arrest. He is an unmitigated threat to national security. I had once seen him wave a saffron kerchief !"
Kapil Sibal: "Where is the evidence for what the foolish General claims? There is no corruption in the country. How do you spell corruption? The word has two o's which look like zeros. So it is doubly proved that there is zero corruption here. The Army Chief knows no logic."
Manmohan Singh tried to open his mouth perhaps to yawn. He was ordered to leave immediately. He rushed to Soniaji to seek her advice. She kept aloof knowing fully well that the small amounts under discussion would not have involved Q and his countrymen. Singh went back to his office dejected and dashed off a strongly worded letter to the Defence Minister not to involve the PMO in any matter of importance.
Antony shared his anguish with Soniaji that this incident might sully his clean image and pleaded that he be given a portfolio unaffected by corruption. Soniaji ordered the Prime Minister to make Antony a Minister without Portfolio.
The GoM (Group of Ministers) headed by Pranabda is now in session to discuss this grave issue. Manmohan Singh has been "asked" to attend as a "special invitee" without the right either to hear or to contribute to the discussions. So the Prime Minister is pleased to attend the meeting. The views expressed during the meeting are:
Antony: "There are two views on whether the Army Chief informed me or not. My secretary says I was not informed. I stand by my secretary's version".
Sharad Pawar: "Who chose V.K.Singh as the Army Chief? Poor chap, he is talking about a piddly amount of Rs.14 crore. Sack him immediately and post someone who will not value any amount less than Rs.1000 crore. Should we not maintain our country's prestige?"
Chidambaram: "Who will talk about corruption? He must be in team Anna. Or is he a Naxal? In either case, it is dangerous to keep him free. I am ordering his immediate arrest. He is an unmitigated threat to national security. I had once seen him wave a saffron kerchief !"
Kapil Sibal: "Where is the evidence for what the foolish General claims? There is no corruption in the country. How do you spell corruption? The word has two o's which look like zeros. So it is doubly proved that there is zero corruption here. The Army Chief knows no logic."
Manmohan Singh tried to open his mouth perhaps to yawn. He was ordered to leave immediately. He rushed to Soniaji to seek her advice. She kept aloof knowing fully well that the small amounts under discussion would not have involved Q and his countrymen. Singh went back to his office dejected and dashed off a strongly worded letter to the Defence Minister not to involve the PMO in any matter of importance.
Antony shared his anguish with Soniaji that this incident might sully his clean image and pleaded that he be given a portfolio unaffected by corruption. Soniaji ordered the Prime Minister to make Antony a Minister without Portfolio.
No comments:
Post a Comment