Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani Friday alleged that by cutting down the commission's stature to a probing committee with Justice R S Pathak as its inquiry authority the United Progressive Alliance was trying to "suppress" the oil pay off scandal involving former external affairs minister Natwar Singh.
Advani criticised the UPA and Congress for the mega exposures of the KGB, the intelligence agency of erstwhile Soviet Union and the Volcker committee report on the Uinited Nations Oil for Food programme in Iraq under the Saddam Hussein regime and told newspersons in Patna that "the inquiry commission had been deliberately reduced to a committee."
He alleged that the UPA government took the action with the motive to hold the inquiry in private instead of holding a public inquiry by a commission.
Advani alleged that since the exposure of the Volcker committee report, the UPA government was changing its stand and added that earlier it had threatened to sue the UN committee report.
"Realising its mistake it announced for probing it separately, which it found to be again incredible and decided to institute a judicial commission to look into it. The the UPA again reverted its stand by reducing the commission's stature into that of a committee," he said.
Advani referred to the revealations of KGB and alleged that "the two major forces of UPA government -- Congress and Communists had received funds from foreign agencies specially from Russia to contest elections and to carry on the party political affairs."
"The funds were used by the ruling Congress party at the time of emergency to manipulate the fourth estate," he said.
Advani said his party would raise both the issues in the coming winter session of Parliament commencing from November 23 and would demand the government to issue a 'White Paper' disclosing names of beneficiaries of the leaders and political parties.
