PM does not call the shots in cabinet: Advani

NEW DELHI - Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Tuesday said the 2G spectrum scam showed that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was not aware of the happenings in his own cabinet.

Now, we know that the prime minister is not even aware of various things happening in his own cabinet, said Advani at a press conference of the National Democratic Alliance.

He said that following the leak of the Niira Radia tapped phone conversations, which exposed the link between corporate lobbyists, politicians and businessmen, concerns had arisen about who are involved in the formation and distribution of portfolios.

Advani also reacted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement Tuesday morning that the government will look for solutions through technology to prevent leakage of tapped phone conversations outside the institutional framework of government”.

Are these matters that the prime minister should be worried about, he asked.

The opposition has been insistent on a joint parliamentary committee probe into the allocation of second generation airwaves to telecom companies in 2008 that is alleged to have caused massive losses to the exchequer. Almost no work was done in the winter session of parliament which ended Monday, as the opposition remained adamant on a JPC probe.