Clamour rises for Raja’s resignation, Congress defends him (Roundup)

NEW DELHI - Despite opposition parties mounting pressure on the government to act against Telecom Minister A. Raja over his alleged role in the allotment of 2G spectrum in 2008, the Congress Saturday defended him by saying he could not be removed over speculation linked to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report which is yet to be submitted.

Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed launched a counter offensive against the rival Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying “How can they demand Raja’s dismissal just because of a CAG report that is yet to be tabled.”

He asked the BJP to first tell what action it was taking against its Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa embroiled in scams, including one related to land allotted to his son in a prime industrial hub of Bangalore.

Instead of making baseless allegations against Raja who has followed the same policy in 2G spectrum allocation that he inherited from the BJP-led central government, the party better look into corruption of its chief ministers and governments, Ahmed told reporters here.

Meanwhile, Raja debunked former telecom secretary D.S. Mathur’s claim of resisting the ministry’s attempts to give licences without a transparent policy. Raja said Mathur was party to every step he took.

Mathur, who retired from office Dec 31, 2007, is reported to have claimed that the minister had asked him to advance the cut-off date in October but he refused stating that it would be against the principles of natural justice.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar described Mathur’s assertion as the clinching evidence of Raja’s obsession from day one to distribute 500 mobile phone licences and make money by ignoring procedures and applicants’ competence.

Mathur’s statement in an interview showed how Raja resisted all along the public auction of the spectrum and distributed licences in a private auction to earn money…his reluctance to formulate a policy to determine competent applicants also proved that the allotment was a pre-meditated conspiracy, Javadekar said.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Saturday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to drop Raja from the cabinet over the 2G spectrum controversy.

“With increasing evidence of the scam is tumbling out and the CAG report itself reportedly estimating a loss of Rs.1.76 trillion ($40 billion), there is no way this issue can be pushed under the carpet,” it said in a statement.

The CPI-M said the Supreme Court bench itself had observed adversely on the failure of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to question the minister — who has refused to resign.

“It was implicit that his continuation in the council of ministers is impacting the progress of the investigations,” the party said.

“Today’s press reports actually confirm this as a meeting was ‘arranged’ between CBI’s investigating officers and Raja’s Counsel,” the CPI-M said.

“There is also a report that the former telecom secretary has now publicly claimed that the minister had allegedly tried to force him to agree to the course of allocating 2G spectrum which he refused,” the party said.

“And subsequently, the minister ensured the course he had chosen which has resulted in this mega scam,” the CPI-M said.

“The CPI-M is of the firm opinion that the continuation of the minister has become untenable. Since he has categorically refused to quit voluntarily, the CPI-M demands that the prime minister act urgently.”