"Landep News"
The line of defense for Telecom Minister A Raja extended from Tamil Nadu to Delhi today.
First, Raja told NDTV that there’s no reason for him to resign over his policies on 2G spectrum. That was seconded by M Karunanidhi, who is the chief of Raja’s party, the DMK.
And in the afternoon, the Law Minister Veerappa Moily said it’s premature to assume Raja is guilty on the basis of a draft report by the government’s auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Slamming Raja, the CAG report said, “The Honourable Minister of Communication & IT, for no apparent logical or valid reasons, ignored the advice of Ministry of Law and Ministry of Finance, avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission to allocate 2G spectrum, a scarce finite national asset at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators.”
That report, to be tabled in Parliament, has been leaked and reported on extensively in the media, including NDTV. It is decisive in stating that the allocation of 2G spectrum in 2008 was ill-advised, and that Raja is responsible for costing the government thousands of crores by selling licenses for the spectrum, instead of auctioning it.
“The matter is before the Supreme Court…the CAG findings are not final,” said Moily. “The Telecom Ministry will be given the opportunity to answer the question raised by CAG…till that is done, you cannot say that CAG findings are final and there is conclusive evidence.”
That’s the sort of comment that will be seized by the Opposition, which has been insisting that the government will not sacrifice Raja because he is critical to the survival of the UPA government at the Centre. Its 18 MPs make the DMK a prized ally in the UPA coalition. The Congress indicated its stand earlier this week by stating that it has “to respect the dharma of coalition politics.”
Moily also said CAG had raised similar queries when Pramod Mahajan was the Communications Minister in the NDA government.
“NDA did not volunteer to make him resign… I have no memory of a minister who has resigned following a CAG report,” Moily said.
Till this morning, there was speculation and hope among the Congress that Karunanidhi may decide that Raja has to step down. The DMK chief was expected to study the leaked CAG report today, ahead of the prime minister’s return to India from the G-20 summit in Seoul.
Some sources said the PM was likely to phone Karunanidhi to discuss the raging Raja controversy. Parliament has been stalled since its session began this week with the Opposition adamant that Raja be held accountable.
BJP hits out at Government over Raja
The Opposition, which has stalled proceedings in Parliament over the spectrum issue, demanding the ouster of A Raja, hit out at the Government today, saying the Congress has surrendered to the DMK.
The Opposition also defended itself on the charges made by Raja, saying they followed the Cabinet rules in 1999, during the NDA regime.
“Raja is stuck in 1999. In Oct 2003, NDA decided that spectrum allocation will now be allocated only by auction. It was a cabinet decision. But UPA forgets that. Raja always says that he has taken every decision after asking the PM, always consulted him. That means he’s making the PM a co-accused. Has that happened with the PM’s consent that spectrum is distributed by free will and not by auction? Was it the Cabinet’s decision or ministry’s?” questioned Prakash Javadekar, Spokesperson, BJP.
Post from: Latest Bollywood|Kollywood|Tollywood| News
0 Response to "Karunanidhi may decide that Raja"
Post a Comment