World

India's PM Vows To End Corruption

March 16, 2001 / 1:43 PM EST / AP

Promising to "clean up the dirt," India's prime minister on Friday announced an inquiry into a bribery scandal that has cost him two Cabinet ministers and spurred calls for his government to resign.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee said the investigation, led by a sitting or retired Supreme Court judge, would look into the allegations raised this week by journalists who used hidden cameras and wads of cash to expose corruption in India's arms procurement system.

"You have my word, I will work to clean up the dirt that has come into view," Vajpayee said in an address broadcast on state-run Doordarshan television.

Vajpayee gave the unusual TV address after shouting lawmakers prevented him from addressing Parliament on Friday, the third straight day he was blocked from speaking there. The government traditionally makes statements on major issues in Parliament, when it is in session.

The turmoil in Parliament led U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cancel a visit there Friday.

"As you know, grave allegations have been made," said Vajpayee, facing the first charges of corruption in his government since he came to power in 1998. "Unfortunately, Parliament has not been allowed to discuss them. I am, therefore, here to talk directly to you."

The government of the world's second-most populous country has been in turmoil since Tuesday, when a Web site released videotapes of politicians and defense officials receiving money and discussing bribes with journalists posing as defense contractors.

Tehelka.com said its reporters spent months pretending to be defense dealers and pushing a fake dlrs 870,000 deal for hand-held thermal cameras and other equipment.

Defense Minister George Fernandes resigned Thursday night, though he denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were aimed at undermining national security.

Fernandes did not appear on tapes released by the Web site. However, the president of his Samata Party, Jaiya Jaitley, was shown in Fernandes' home talking to journalists posing as arms dealers about getting their products approved as money changed hands.

The Defense Ministry on Wednesday fired a general and three other officials shown accepting money.

The president of Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party, Bangaru Laxman, resigned Tuesday night after Tehelka.com released videotapes of him accepting $2,175. Laxman said he gave the money to his party treasurer.

On Thursday, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee resigned from the Cabinet and withdrew her party from the governing coalition, saying she was taking a stand against corruption.

Vajpayee defended his government, saying the tapes revealed that "no deal was actually struck, no (Cabinet) minister was involved." Yet, he said, "the ease with which persons posing as arms merchants gained access to our defense personnel and officials shows how far the cancer has spread."