BJP doesn't trust PM, says govt misusing CBI

Mumbai: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari on Monday slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for the alleged "misuse" of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as a "tool against its adversaries".

"The Congress is using the CBI as a tool against its adversaries... the CBI is a political arm of the UPA government," Gadkari told reporters in Mumbai.

Gadkari's comments followed CBI's decision to arrest former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah in the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, an alleged extortionist, in a staged shootout.

Alleging the misuse of the investigating agency, Gadkari pointed to the disproportionate assets case against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and the "escape" of the former Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson, the main accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy.

"The CBI is virtually a political instrument of the Congress party," he said.

"The Sohrabuddin (case) investigation is to target the BJP while they conveniently forgot the involvement of the Andhra Pradesh government. Their former chief minister YSR (Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy) was clearly involved in the arrest and encounter death of Sohrabuddin," Gadkari said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called for the smooth functioning of Parliament and said that it was ready for all discussions on the issue of the arrest of former Gujarat minister Amit Shah.

"CBI... is not Congress bureau of investigation. CBI is not mouthpiece of Congress," Manmohan Singh told reporters outside Parliament before the beginning of the monsoon session.

He was answering questions on the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation that the Congress-led central government was behind the arrest of former Gujarat minister of state for home Amit Shah in the 2005 Sohrabuddin Sheikh staged shootout case.

"There is no truth in that. Opposition knows that jolly well. Sohrabuddin Sheikh is Supreme Court-directed case. Central government has no role in it," he asserted.

He added that the government "was ready for every piece of discussion in Amit Shah's case".

Manmohan Singh then called upon the opposition parties to let parliament function smoothly.

"We are here to debate many issues of national importance, Government is ready for every piece of discussion that the opposition may want," he said, adding, "We want the parliament to function smoothly… that is what the people of India expect."