Alok Verma was doing 'good job', urge PM to reconsider action against him: Subramanian Swamy
Ahmedabad, Oct 25: BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said CBI Director Alok Verma is an "upright officer" who was doing a "good job" to check corruption and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider action taken against him.
Swamy said he has full faith in the prime minister but claimed that those "around him" are trying to "harm the interests" of Modi as well as the BJP.
Verma and CBI's Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who were at loggerheads, were divested of all powers and sent on leave by the government on Tuesday night.
Swamy, who was here to attend an event, told reporters that Verma was doing a "good job" in the fight against corruption.
"I urge the prime minister to reconsider removal of CBI director Alok Verma," the BJP MP said.
"Alok Verma is an upright officer, while Asthana is a corrupt officer," Swamy alleged.
Asked if he has any proof of the allegations that he was levelling against Asthana, Swamy said he never speaks anything without proper proof.
"Nirav Modi ran away, Mehul Choksi ran away and in the case of (Vijay) Mallya, the lookout notice was lowered for him to go. These things are affecting the BJP's fight against corruption when it had promised that it will bring back black money stashed abroad," he said.
Swamy also said he would withdraw himself from the corruption cases he had filed against senior Congress leaders if the Enforcement Directorate (ED) official Rajeshwar Singh was removed from the ongoing probe against former finance minister P Chidambaram.
Swamy, who has filed various cases against senior Congress leaders, claimed there were many "well-wishers" of Chidambaram in the BJP who were trying to save him.
He, however, did not name anyone.
"In today's situation, ED officer Rajeshwar, if he is removed, then I will come to the conclusion that a conspiracy is going on to save Chidambaram. There are many well-wishers of Chidambaram in our party who are trying to save him.
"I will withdraw myself from all the cases filed against Chidambaram in the Supreme court, cases filed against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in Patiala House (court) in the National Herald (case) and the case against Shashi Tharoor in the (alleged) murder of his wife," he said.
"When I am fighting all these cases in the interest of the party and the nation, somebody from within is trying to backstab me. What else can I do," the BJP leader said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
