Congress intensifies attack on BJP over Sushma Swaraj's remarks

NEW DELHI: Congress today stepped up attack on BJP over Sushma Swaraj washing her hands off the induction of Bellary brothers as ministers saying, the "Neros of BJP" fiddle in Delhi while Karnataka burns.

"Swaraj's assertions once again underscore the fundamental reality of BJP that money talks and Yeddyurappa and Reddy walk. While Karnataka burns with corruption, the Neros of BJP fiddle in Delhi.

"It does not require any imagination to find out from where the fiddle came. It definitely came from Bangalore," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari told reporters here.

He was replying to questions surrounding the controversy in BJP over Swaraj's remarks.

Swaraj had alleged that the decision to give cabinet berths to Janardhan and Karunakar Reddy was taken by Arun Jaitley (in his capacity as Karnataka party in-charge), and senior leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar.

She maintained that she had not acted as the protector of the Reddy brothers and had "no role in the political making" of the mining barons. She emphasised that she was opposed to three members of a family finding berths in the cabinet. The third Reddy brother Somashekhar has a ministerial status.

In a damage control exercise, former BJP chief Rajnath Singh said all decisions vis-a-vis Karnataka had his consent and dismissed as "baseless" reports of a rift between Swaraj and Jaitley.

However, the Congress spokesperson dismissed the defence saying, "The question is not who opposed Yeddyurappa and Reddy. The question is why at all they were appointed."