BHUBANESWAR: President of Utkal Bharat Party and former BJP MP Kharabela Swain on Sunday ridiculed the Jan Chetna Yatra of LK Advani saying the Congress and the BJP are like two sides of the coin. ‘’There is no ideological difference between the Congress and the BJP so far as corruption is concerned,’’ Swain told a media conference here. BJP State president Jual Oram is accompanying Advani during his Orissa leg of the Jan Chetna Yatra against corruption when the former is not free from taint. The Intelligence Bureau (IB) submitted a confidential report to the then NDA government at the Centre in July 2002 about corruption in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The IB investigated following a complaint of corruption in the Ministry from Oju Welfare Association, an NGO working for the rehabilitation of orphans and destitute women in Arunachal Pradesh. The IB reported to the PMO that the NGO paid a bribe of ` 4 lakh and ` 3 lakh to the Ministry officials for grant of ` 42.09 lakh and ` 18.87 lakh assistance. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was the Leader of Opposition then, raised the issue in Parliament seeking a reply from the then prime minister AB Vajpayee. Opposition member Sarla Maheswari had also demanded resignation of Oram. Advani, the then Union home minister, was fully aware of the issue as the IB was under him and there was pressure on Oram to resign. However, the petrol pump distribution scam surfaced and many BJP leaders were found involved. This came as a relief to Oram who was spared, Swain claimed.‘’What kind of a message Advani is trying to send to the people of the country by allowing a corrupt leader to accompany him in the roadshow against corruption,’’ he wondered. Stating that Rath Yatra has become outdated, Swain asked the BJP to spell out its policy and programmes if it returns to power.
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