India's ruling Congress party on Sunday vowed to fight corruption by fast-tracking court cases, as the government tried to overcome stinging criticism after a string of financial scandals. Party president Sonia Gandhi, the key powerbroker of Indian politics, told the annual Congress leadership conference in New Delhi that the 125-year-old party must show zero tolerance of corruption to survive.
The pledge followed a telecom scandal that deadlocked an entire session of parliament, and the arrests of some organisers of the Delhi Commonwealth Games on charges of swindling millions of dollars before the October event.
"There should be no tolerance for corruption and we have demonstrated this through our actions and even when no charges have been made, we have asked our ministers and chief minister to step down pending enquiry," Gandhi said. She said that corruption trials "drag on indefinitely and undermine public confidence" so she backed "a new system of fast-tracking all cases that concern corruption by public servants including politicians, including all of us."