Opposition wants PC, Sibal to go
As the Opposition parties attacked the Manmohan Singh’s government after the Supreme Court cancelled the 2G licences allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis, the Congress defended the UPA government saying it merely followed the policy adopted by the BJP-led NDA regime.
Escalating its assault on the UPA government in the wake of Supreme Court’s verdict, the BJP demanded immediate resignation of Home Minister P Chidambaram and sought clarifications from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“Will the prime minister take some accountability or keep silent as always? Will Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, the two most powerful leaders in the Congress, speak about the massive corruption in this government or maintain a conspicuous silence,” said BJP general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad while slamming the government on the issue.
“The CBI has elaborately argued for days together that the role of Chidambaram need not be investigated. Therefore, the upfront of today’s order is that his role has to be investigated. The special court has already taken up the matter,” Prasad said.
Another BJP leader Balbir Punj said: “If the government has any standards left, they should ask for the resignation of Chidambaram immediately.” He said: “If he refuses, he should be sacked.”
The CPM termed the verdict as “strong indictment” and demanded the resignation of Cabinet minister Kapil Sibal.
“The judgment is a strong indictment of the UPA government and in particular the present telecom minister (Sibal) who has consistently refused to cancel the licences and held that there has been no revenue loss,” the party said in a statement issued here.
CPM leader Nilotpal Basu said: “The prime minister will have to take a call on the fallout of the judgment which has called the bluff on the government’s claims on the 2G scam.”
CPI leader A B Bardhan described the apex court order as a “fine judgment” and said “it was Chidambaram’s job as the (then) finance minister to prevent irregularities. He has no right to look away. There is criminal culpability.” Blaming the BJP on the issue, he said: “I don’t think the then NDA government can escape responsibility.”
However, the Congress defended Chidambaram and said there is nothing specifically against the government in the verdict which has criticised the policy formulated by the BJP-led NDA government. “The Supreme Court has not passed any remarks against Chidambaram,” Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said adding “there is nothing specifically against the UPA government in the verdict. The Supreme Court has criticised the first-come, first-serve policy formulated by the NDA government.”
