Congress has failed to convince people on actions taken against corruption: Oomen Chandy

NEW DELHI: With the UPA government facing continuous attack over corruption, senior Congress leader and Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy has said the party had "failed to convince" the people about the actions taken on the issue.

Stressing that the Manmohan Singh government had not "spared" any of those accused of corruption, he said there was no need for the party to be on the "defensive" and it should have rather "taken advantage" on the basis of the actions taken.

"We have failed to convince the people on the actions taken by the UPA government. That I agree," Chandy told PTI in an interview here.

He was asked whether Congress was found wanting in effectively communicating its achievements and clearing the air on various kinds of allegation levelled against the government.

The 70-year-old leader insisted that the "actions" by the UPA government against the corrupt were "very strong" and "not a single person was spared".

Chandy buttressed his argument by citing the actions against ministers and leaders who faced allegations in scams involving 2G spectrum allocation and Commonwealth Games.

"The UPA government or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or party leadership did not shield the corrupt persons. No one can point out.... If the government had shielded the culprit, you could blame us," the second time Chief Minister added.

The apprehension that the issue could cause damage to the party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections apparently weighed heavily on his mind as he observed that the opposition is "taking advantage" on it.

"Actually, we should have taken advantage on the basis of actions taken by us on corruption. Congress should not have gone on the defensive on the issue. We should have gone on the offensive....We did everything (to punish the corrupt)....but on communicating this....there may have been weakness," Chandy said.