Congress hits out at Samajwadi Party for attacking Sonia

NEW DELHI: Congress today hit out at Samajwadi Party for attacking Sonia Gandhi for her support to suspended IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal and said the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh is trying to hide what is essentially a case of corruption and illegal mining.

Party spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit also dismissed SP's comments that the Congress president should also write a letter in support of Ashok Khemka, the Haryana IAS officer who had scrapped her son-in-law Robert Vadra's controversial land deals and was transferred.

"Both issues are totally different. That (Vadra's) was a civil matter. Khemka was transferred along with other officers and not suspended. Anybody could go to courts against it," he said.

Being a Member of Parliament from UP and the president of the country's largest political party, Gandhi is well within her rights to express something on a question of administrative principle and ethics, Dikshit said, adding the issue of Nagpal's suspension has gone beyond UP's boundaries.

Gandhi had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, asking him to ensure that the young IAS officer is not unfairly treated.

Dikshit said there were several things officers do which are not amiable to politicians but there are ways to approach the matter.

In a strong criticism of Akhilesh Yadav's governance, he said governments are not "personal kingdoms" of the 15th century feudalism era where rulers can "say off with their heads".

Another young Congress leader and MP Jitin Prasada said Samajwadi Party is misleading the people by raising the bogey of communal tension to justify her suspension.

The real issue is that of corruption and illegal mining under the patronage of politicians and people of UP know it, he said.