Vajpayee, Modi only PMs with graft-free governance: BJP

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 28

Claiming that only the BJP-led NDA governments offered a corruption-free regime, the saffron party today expanded the charge of corruption right to the doorstep of the first Congress government led by Jawaharlal Nehru.

Interacting with mediapersons as part of celebrations of three years of the Narendra Modi-led government, BJP leader GVL Narsimha Rao said only two PMs gave corruption-fee and scam-free governance in modern India — Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi, both saffron leaders.

While the BJP has, as a matter of routine, levelled corruption charges against majority of Congress PMs, including Manmohan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, it is for the first time perhaps it tried to remind the nation of the “Jeep scandal of 1948” in the regime of Nehru.

“Who can forget the Jeep scandal in 1948 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister,” Rao said as he went on to enlist other Congress PMs under whose regimes “corruption cases came to light”. “The rest is history,” he said.

As per archives, the Jeep scandal of 1948 was the first major corruption case in Independent India.

Rao said curbing corruption with citizen collaboration were among the top-most priorities of Modi. “No one can deny that Modi has completely eradicated cronyism and corruption from the country,” he added.

Invokes jeep scandal 

• “Who can forget the jeep scandal in 1948 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the PM,” BJP leader GVL Narsimha Rao said
• As per archives, the jeep scandal was the first major corruption case in Independent India
• “VK Krishna Menon, then Indian high commissioner to Britain, ignored protocols and signed Rs 80 lakh contract to purchase Army jeeps from a foreign firm. While most of the money was paid upfront only 155 jeeps arrived which Nehru made the government accept,” archives say