Khurshid's deception exposed

Accepting the appeal from the Rashtriya Viklang Party (RVP), India against Corruption (IaC) has decided to take the struggle against Law Minister Salman Khurshid's corruption to the grassroots. To this end, after IaC activists led by Arvind Kejriwal, Gopal Rai, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh et al spread awareness about the truth of the case of misappropriation of funds by the minister's NGO through three days of street protests, it was decided that further demonstrations will be held in Farukkhabad, Khurshid's home turf, beginning 1 November.

Meanwhile the IaC and RVP will carry out a door-to-door campaign with the facts about funds swindled by Salman Khurshid's NGO.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal blasted the claims of Khurshid while addressing the people and media today. He said, "How can one have faith in an investigation into Salman Khurshid’s Trust by Mulayam Singh Yadav's son when the father is under the CBI scanner?" The activist pointed out that the lawyer for a CBI inquiry was appointed by the Union Law Minister and hence it was not possible for the investigation agency to act without bias and prejudice in the matter.

With more and more evidence coming out about the scandal that involved forgery and swindling of funds meant for differently-abled people, the task of the IaC has become easier, according to the activist. Now the people and media alike are digging deeper into the scandal and coming out with new facts; Kejriwal said.

The eminent activist found it strange that the Congress was batting for Khurshid. "Is this the NGO of the Congress or of Salman Khurshid?" he questioned.

All campaigners at yesterday's demonstrations at Parliament Street and today's public meeting at Jantar Mantar blasted the minister defence one by one by pointing to the fact that the photographs furnished by Khurshid at his press conference to 'prove' that aid equipment donation camps were indeed organised were misleading. "The scam relates to the year 2009-2010 whereas the pictures flashed were those of the year that followed," said Kejriwal.

Sharing the stage with IaC activists today was Vivek Yadav from Manipur, who has conducted an independent investigation. He said that some
surprising facts had come to light. "The name Santosh Kumari, wife of late Ghanshyam (mentioned in the list of Khurshid’s Trust), is fictitious; such a person could not be traced. Another listed beneficiary Shashi Mohan, son of Raja Ram, could not be found either. They were both listed as beneficiaries of a wheelchair each. A certain Daya Ram, who is shown as a recipient of a wheelchair, is not even a physically challenged person. Congress people helped him in getting his eye operated upon and got his signature as a recipient of a wheelchair," the investigator said.

Yadav brought before the media a person, Pankaj, who has impaired legs, but he was provided a hearing aid as per the list provided by the Trust of Salman Khurshid! And then Yadav revealed that this Pankaj did not receive even the hearing aid.

When journalists confronted Arvind Kejriwal with allegations of a land scam against Prashant Bhushan, the activist said he had no problem if any institutional inquiry is conducted against any member of the organisation. All the agencies are with the government? What's stopping them? But for authenticity and credibility, the investigation should be carried out by an SIT headed by a retired judge, he said, questioning, "But who will investigate the corrupt acts of the government? Why is everybody except the government, apparently the most corrupt entity, being investigated?"