New Delhi, March 6 (IANS) The Congress Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had “played with national security” during the rule of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) by reducing recruitment to the Indian police force and other specialised security agencies.
“Indian police personnel and officers of Indian Police Services (IPS) are the backbone of our security system, but the BJP played with national security by bringing the recruitment of IPS officers from 100-110 in 1996 to 36 during most of the NDA rule,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters at the party headquarters here.
He stressed that the decrease in the recruitment was done with the approval of L.K. Advani, who was the home minister in the NDA government.
Singhvi added that recruitment was brought down in specialised security agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well apart from the regular police service.
The party spokesperson applauded the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for tycoon Vijay Mallya securing at an auction Mahatma Gandhi’s steel-rimmed glasses, Rolex watch, sandal, metal plate and bowl.
“Within two days of Herculean efforts, we ensured that India’s heritage comes back. It would not have been possible without the co-ordination with the government. We ensured that we bring them back. The government cannot bid in such an auction but it was through our coordination that it is coming back to India,” Singhvi said.
Tony Bedi, a representative for Mallya, placed the winning bid of $1.8 million at New York’s Antiquorum Auctioneers auction house despite protests in India and an injunction from the Delhi High Court seeking to halt the sale.