Allegations Against CBI Director Verma a Joke: Subramanian Swamy

BJP leader Dr Subramanian Swamy.

(File Photo: IANS)

Subramanian Swamy, parliamentarian from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, is upset that his party’s government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is not fulfilling its anti-corruption promise. The latest example of that, he told BloombergQuint, is the war within the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Swamy, while speaking with BloombergQuint, called the charges of corruption against CBI Director Alok Verma a “joke”, saying that the “honest officer” would not misappropriate even a “bag of salt”.

Verma, who initiated investigation against his deputy and Special Director Rakesh Asthana for alleged bribery, has been asked by the government to go on leave. Asthana, who levelled similar charges against Verma, too has been sent on leave.

But why is Swamy backing an officer that his government seems to have shunted out? Swamy suggested that Prime Minister Modi is so busy with the “big picture” that he hasn’t noticed the situation.

The number of banquets he (Modi) attends, of heads of states, itself takes 30-40 percent of his time. The question is, does he delegate his authority to those people who are honest and have them probed from time to time to see whether they have become rogue or not? He didn’t do it.

Subramanian Swamy

Read the full transcript of Swamy’s interview with BloombergQuint here.