Advani demands white paper on black money from UPA govt

Nagpur: Senior BJP leader L K Advani tonight demanded a white paper from the UPA government on the issue of black money during the forthcoming Winter session of Parliament. Addressing a public meeting as part of the Jan Chetna Yatra in eastern part of the city, the octogenarian leader alleged that UPA government was not serious about bringing back black money to the tune of Rs 2.5 lakh crore stashed in foreign countries. He alleged that while countries like USA, UK, Canada and others have amended necessary provisions to bring back black money from the Swiss banks, the Congress-led UPA government was not at all initiating any steps. “If the black money is brought back, India can provide elementary facilities like water, power, roads and other  infrastructure facilities to nearly six lakh villages in the country,” he said. Advani said ill-governance may lead to collapse of the UPA government and lead to mid-term elections. Fed up with the inaction on part of the government on the 2G spectrum scam, the BJP and allies forced Parliament to a standstill for the entire session and finally forced the government to set up a Joint Parliament Committee (JPC), he said. Referring to the reported sparring between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram over a Finance Ministry note, Advani alleged that the government was facing a civil war with the two ministers openly indulging in the act. He also criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his recent remarks favouring a “critical look” at the Right to Information (RTI), Act. “When faced with questions, Singh sought to clarify that there will be no dilution of RTI,” he said.