Lack of transparency hampers investments in Tamilnadu, says communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union minister of communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said investments are not happening in Tamil Nadu because of corruption and lack of transparency.

"For Tamil Nadu's growth we need investment, industrial growth and employment," he said campaigning for the BJP here ahead of the May 16 Tamil Nadu assembly election.

Talking about freebies promised by the ruling AIADMK, Prasad reminded people that they are given with taxpayers' and not party money. "For people to afford to pay higher taxes, you need industries, investments and jobs," he said.

He attacked DMK too. "My office has a very close connection with Tamil Nadu because this is where the 2G scam happened. My predecessor, A Raja from the DMK, was the main accused in the scam. Another minister, K Kanimozhi, also from DMK, is accused in the case," he said.

"The minister before A Raja was Dayanidhi Maran who is also facing charges of abuse of power regarding licences," he added. The minister said that not a single middleman could enter his office in Sanchar Bhavan. All decisions are taken after transparent discussions.

Prasad said when his ministry auctioned spectrum last year in a transparent manner, the government earned Rs 1,10,000 crore. He used the 2G scam to attack the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). "This scam happened during the UPA rule. But for the court's interference, the previous government would not have taken any action," he said. He called the alliance a perfect combination of perpetrators and protectors of corruption.

Prasad reiterated BJP's favourite campaign punchline --"when Congress is in power, corruption happens in the skies, on the ground and even underground".

"In the skies they did the spectrum scam and AugustaWestland scam, on the ground they had Adarsh building, Commonwealth and Kargil War widow scam and underground they had the coal scam," he said.

He said BJP hopes to make a powerful presence in Tamil Nadu. "We are already a majority in nine states, and part of a majority in two states," he said.

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