UPA must explain Reliance episode

India Against Corruption (IAC) boss and social turned political activist Arbind Kejriwal, who is going to announce the name of his party at the end of this month itself, may be leveling one charge of corruption or the other on daily basis against both BJP and Congress but the charges that he leveled against the country's biggest Corporate House Reliance and its boss Mukesh Ambani of making huge profit from the KG basin by dictating terms to increase gas price to Manmohan Singh government must be clarified by it. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's action in regard to Reliance makes clear that he favoured it under an unseen pressure. The shifting of portfolio of Petroleum minister also is alleged to have been done under the pressure of Reliance on PM to suit its business interests. The recent shifting of the portfolio of Petroleum from Jaipal Reddy is also alleged to have been done under the pressure of Reliance. Jaipal Reddy was shifted to ministry of Science and Technology only because he vehemently opposed Reliance move to increase the prices of Gas to reap huge profit. As Reddy is an honest minister and of unquestioned integrity, he did not bend under its pressure and because of that petroleum portfolio was taken away from him. Though it is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to appoint ministers and allot portfolio, the way Petroleum portfolio was taken away from Manishankar Ayyer to Jaipal Reddy amply reflects that there works some unseen power on the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to oblige Reliance boss Mukesh Ambani. In the given situation, Arvind Kejriwal has rightly leveled charges against the Government of India that it is not run by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but by the Reliance boss Mr. Mukesh Ambani and both Congress and BJP are in his pocket. Arvind Kejriwal’s allegations that the contract of exploring Gas in KG Basin was signed during the BJP-led NDA regime and implemented in letter and spirit by the Congress-led UPA regime must be cleared by the government. That is why Mukesh Ambani used to say that the ruling Congress Party is his shop. Arvind Kejriwal's allegations against the ruling and opposition parties may have been sans solid evidences but it is responsibility of the UPA government to rebut charges one by one on the basis of solid document so that the people of the nation could know what the truth is. In democracy, IAC boss Arvind Kejriwal has every right to raise the issue of corruption against government, political parties and corporate, and it is the responsibility of each accused to explain its position before the nation.