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Singh, addressing party workers, said he sympathized with the two leaders. "We feel sorry for Kalmadi who is suffering hardships and also for Ashok Chavan. In my personal opinion, both of them are innocent. But whenever any corruption charges are levelled, Sonia Gandhi has to take action," he said.
Singh said Congress had always fought corruption and added it was because of the Right to Information law brought by the party government that the recent scams had been exposed.
According to him, judiciary should consider granting bail to accused in cases where chargesheet was filed and investigations were complete, in what was seen as a reference to DMK MP Kanimozhi, who is in jail for the 2G scam.
Singh's remarks drew comments from Congress leaders who felt such views neutralized the high ground claimed by the party with action against tainted leaders. While Chavan was sacked as Maharashtra chief minister following Adarsh housing scam, Kalmadi was removed as secretary of Congress parliamentary party and is now cooling his heels in Tihar jail for irregularities in Commonwealth Games.
A party leader said attributing innocence to Kalmadi and Chavan undercut the party's efforts to be seen as aggressive against corruption and gave an impression that they were sacrificed because of political compulsion.
In the wake of rising dirt over scams, with an aggressive opposition at its throat, the government held up the dismissals as proof of its intent to fight graft. The clean-up was extended to telecom ministry where DMK minister A Raja was also given the boot, finally landing him in jail. At the AICC plenary session in December, Sonia spoke of these actions and even gave a five-point formula to rid the administration of graft.
Led by the party chief, Congress made a campaign of the sackings of central and state leaders to question rival BJP about its track record on the issue of probity. It has repeatedly tried to embarrass the BJP by asking about the inaction on Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who is accused of helping family members including sons with land allotments and patronizing illegal mining.
While Singh himself questioned the BJP in Pune, the pattern was visible at the AICC briefing too where the party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi was asked about BJP's demand that ministers accused of corruption be dropped in the reshuffle. Singhvi told reporters that the opposition need not lecture it on the issue as it had failed to act in Karnataka while Congress had acted even on prima facie allegations.
Congress party chief, Sonia Gandhi, defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday over an alleged corruption scandal that has paralysed parliament, quashing speculation that Singh could be forced to resign.
The growing scandal over telecoms licences is one of the most serious challenges since the Congress party came to power in 2004.
The opposition has disrupted business in parliament since Nov. 9, demanding the Congress party-led coalition government agree to a full parliamentary investigation into alleged corruption in the telecoms ministry.
That has weakened the government's ability to move key economic measures and delayed legislation, although the government is not at risk of collapsing.
"I think it is shameful that a person of the integrity of the prime minister should be targeted in this manner. Everyone knows that the prime minister is 100 percent above board. Everyone knows what kind of an individual he is," Gandhi told reporters in her first comments on the scandal.
Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja was forced to resign more than a week ago after a state audit accused his ministry of selling licences and spectrum too cheaply in 2007-2008, potentially depriving the state of $39 billion in revenues.
"The minister has been asked to resign," Gandhi said. "When we compare the actions that our party takes with the actions that other parties take, as you have mentioned... I am confident that the people will judge us more positively than other parties."
Sonia, widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is considered India's most powerful politician and effectively runs the government in coordination with the cabinet. She has been criticised for not taking a more public approach more often.
Singh's representative, the attorney general, defended the prime minister in court on Tuesday, saying all procedures had been followed in ordering a probe into the scandal. Singh will not personally face any sanctions but negative conclusions from the court could add to pressure on him to resign. Prime Minister Singh has been asked by the Supreme Court to provide more information after defending on Tuesday his delay and eventual failure to approve prosecution of his telecoms minister for selling telecoms licences below market price.
The opposition says Singh failed to crack down on corruption because he did not want to upset the DMK, which is key to ensuring the coalition government has a majority in parliament.
Raja is a member of the DMK, a small party from Tamil Nadu.
Congress has been mired in one controversy after the other since its strong re-election in 2009, being forced to sack several high ranking officials over alleged corruption and finding it difficult to pass key economic and political reform needed to lift millions out of poverty and open up the economy.
Critics say the affair highlights Singh's weak leadership skills which have often meant Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee stepping in to handle problems.
(Reporting by C.J. Kuncheria; Writing by Paul de Bendern, Editing by Jo Winterbottom and Sugita Katyal)
