Oppn wants PM to come clean on scam

BJP holds Manmohan guilty of conspiracy of silence

As pressure mounted on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to accept the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the scam, the government was left groping for answers.

Hardening their stand on the scam, the BJP and the CPM on Wednesday called upon the prime minister to respond to the apex court’s “serious remarks” over the “murky affair” associated with allotment of 2G spectrum.

BJP veteran L K Advani on Wednesday told reporters in Patna that it was the duty of the prime minister to reply to the apex court’s  remarks.

“The Supreme Court has made a serious remark on the prime minister and PMO on that issue (2G spectrum allocation controversy). I do not recall having come across such a remark on the prime minister’s office in the last 60 years. It is the prime minister’s duty to reply to the comment immediately,” the BJP leader said.

An apex court bench on Tuesday had questioned why it took Singh over a year to reply to former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy’s request for permission to prosecute controversial former telecom minister A Raja.

The court observations straightaway put the spotlight on the prime minister and buoyed up an already belligerent Opposition which has demanded and got the scalps of Raja and Ashok Chavan, who resigned as Maharashtra chief minister for his alleged role in the Adarsh society scam.

The CPM said the court had correctly asked why the prime minister delayed responding to the request for permission to prosecute Raja for 16 months. It demanded that the prime minister should explain to Parliament how the murky affair associated with the allotment of 2G spectrum was allowed to go on for so long.

Yechury’s letter

In a statement, the party asked why the prime minister did not respond to the letter written by party politburo member Sitaram Yechury in November 2008 asking for a probe. The CPM Central Committee will meet on Friday to discuss current political situation, corruption in high places being high on the agenda.

The BJP is already insisting on a JPC probe into all aspects of the scam in which Raja has been indicted by the CAG, whose report was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

In Delhi, BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said: “As regards the SC observation about the prime minister not responding in time, we hold the prime minister guilty of a conspiracy of silence and it is that which has been commented upon by the SC.”

“We have nothing more to say except that the Prime Minister definitely got away with it earlier but now needs to give an explanation on that matter,” Sitharaman said.
The principal opposition also insisted that the resignation of Raja in the 2G Spectrum scam was not enough as other important people were definitely involved in the scandal of such magnitude.

The BJP also sought to drag in the Prime Minister’s Office in the scam, saying former Telecom minister Raja had himself “repeatedly” maintained that the Prime Minister’s Office was in the loop.

Congess to reply

The Congress Wednesday said the government will Thursday respond to the Supreme Court's observation about the “silence” of the prime minister.

“The Supreme Court has asked the government a question and the government will give an appropriate response on Thursday,” Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said replying to queries from mediapersons.

Tewari refuted allegations that the government had been soft-pedalling the 2G spectrum controversy.