Silence a sign of acceptance

Now it is 18th day that Lalitgate came into light, involving Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje Scindhia and Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in one way or the other and since then Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been keeping quiet on this issue about which the nation wants to know his views. It is surprising why PM Modi does not open his mouth on Lalitgate. It is not an ordinary issue but of propriety and probity in public life. He must break his enigmatic silence on the issue. Otherwise, the message goes out that he has also tacit support to impropriety and corruption. Not only almost all senior BJP leaders some among them are ministers in the NDA govt. and also PM Modi never tired of questioning former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh’ silence on the issues of corruption in UPA govt and probity in public. These BJP leaders were then in opposition and Narendra Modi was party's prime ministerial candidate in Lok Sabha elections. They interpreted Manmohan's silence as the sign of accepting corruption charges. And now why not by the same yardstick, PM Modi's silence can not be interpreted as his acceptance of his ministers’ involvement in Lalitgate. It also proves his claim of providing a clean govt. free of corruption a sham. PM Modi’s claim of Zero tolerance against corruption has fallen flat. PM Modi on his radio broadcast of Man ki Baat but made no mention of the new revelation about charges against Vasundhra and Sushma. The nation, however, wants to know its Man ki Baath from the PM. Even senior most BJP leader Lalkrishna Advani, who has been pushed into Salahkar Mandal against his wishes, has rightly hinted at his party ministers in question, how he had resigned the moment his name surfaced in the Jain-Hawala diary to maintain credibility in politics. He had resigned from the membership of Lok Sabha pending investigation and when he was given clean chit by the CBI, he was again elected to Lok Sabha and participated in parliamentary activity. He resigned on the basis of his conscience call because he was sure that he never did wrong and would come out clean. He had done this even after the party leadership asked him not to do this. Despite that the conscience is neither biting Sushma nor Raje and the PM has been maintaining deafening silence. It has created the perception among the public that this Modi-led NDA government is no better than the previous UPA government on the issue of corruption and others. The entire nation wants to know why PM Modi is silent on Lalitgate. He should have come out and told the people that his ministers had committed no wrong doing and it is a false campaign of opposition to level charge against them. And if he thinks that to uphold the probity in public life to strengthen credibility in politics, he must ask his External affairs Minister Sushma and Rajasthan Chief Vasundhra Raje Scindhia pending the probe. The longer PM Modi goes into silent mode, the greater the damage is done to the party.