Congress leadership should clarify after Navjot Kaur Sidhu's serious allegations: BJP

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The BJP on Sunday attacked the Congress over its Punjab leader Navjot Kaur Sidhu's remarks that one "who gives a suitcase of Rs 500 crore becomes the CM", saying she has levelled serious allegations of corruption against the Congress leadership and it should clarify its stand.

"We always speak for Punjab and Punjabiyat... but do not have Rs 500 crore which we can give to sit in chief minister's chair," Kaur, the wife of former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, had told reporters on Saturday after meeting Governor Gulab Chand Kataria.

BJP MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said it is a "serious allegation" against the Congress leadership. "She has said that in the Congress, one has to give at least Rs 500 crore in a suitcase to get the CM's post, or else it's not possible," he charged.

"The disease of corruption has reached to this extent in the Congress, which is neck deep in corruption," he alleged, and targeted the Congress leadership, saying, "Neither the country, nor the Constitution, nor the party itself are safe in their hands" "People of the country must remain alert. They are the enemy of democracy within the party and outside as well," the BJP leader said, adding that Kaur's remarks have "completely exposed them".

Trivedi said that this is not the first time such allegations have been levelled against the Congress.

Earlier, Congress leader Margaret Alva, in her book titled 'Courage and Commitment', had written how in the 2008 Karnataka assembly polls all seats were being auctioned on the highest bidding, the BJP leader charged.

"Corruption and the Congress are two sides of the same coin. Be it the issue of development or allocation of seats, corruption is the first criteria in both cases," Trivedi alleged.

BJP IT department head Amit Malviya also said that Kaur has made serious allegations against the Congress leadership and Gandhis should answer.

"These kinds of accusations have surfaced before, in states like Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Karnataka, where various Congress leaders have raised concerns about internal corruption and money-power within the party, he said.

"Accountability and clarity are essential in any democracy and these allegations demand answers from the Gandhis," Malviya added.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said there are many criteria for becoming the chief minister in the Congress. “I heard her (Navjot Kaur) statement of Rs 500 crore. But what I had heard from the horse's mouth was that Rs 350 crore was given to secure the chief minister’s chair. I am not naming anybody,” Jakhar, who switched to the BJP from the Congress in 2022, said.

The Congress has “dacoits” who are still holding positions of power within the party, he alleged.

BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh claimed that Kaur has exposed the "politics of moneybags” in the Congress.

In a statement, Chugh said, "When the wife of a senior Congress leader herself admits that the chief minister’s position can be purchased through financial deals, it demonstrates a complete moral collapse in the party led by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.” “It shows that the party's internal functioning has reduced Punjab's politics to a money-driven auction system instead of a democratic leadership process,” he alleged.

Chugh said Kaur’s statement about five Congress leaders lobbying for the chief minister’s post in Punjab also revealed the deep-rooted infighting that has paralysed the party from within.

“Instead of addressing the problems of Punjab, the Congress leadership is busy bargaining and plotting for power, and such behaviour only reflects its desperation for control at any cost,” Chugh claimed. PTI PK RT RT RT RT