Singh had said on Sunday that allegations of a scam in the spectrum allocation were incorrect but refused to answer a question about the Opposition’s demand that Raja should resign following last week’s CBI raids on the offices of the Department of Telecom.
The Congress on Monday strongly defended the DMK minister saying his name did not figure in the case related to the controversy over awarding licences. Responding to questions, party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters here: “The minister’s name has not figured in the FIR (first information report). Only some officials’ names have been figured. The minister’s office was not raided”.
Criticising the BJP and the CPM for demanding Raja’s resignation, Ahmed said the two parties did not have the right to speak against corruption as their top leaders’ role in some scandals were probed by the CBI.
The Congress referred to former BJP president Bangaru Laxman’s bribery case, which was exposed through a sting operation and CPM Kerala leader Pinarayi Vijayan’s alleged involvement in the multi-million SNC Lavalin scam.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday said the alleged irregularities in allotting spectrum and licences by the telecom ministry to nine private operators in 2007 was the “largest scam in independent India” that cost the government a whopping “Rs 60,000 crore”.
The party expressed regret that the PM had sought to comment on “the innocence” of Minister Raja “even while the investigations are on.”
“There was no occasion for the PM to send such a signal to the investigative agencies directly under him. The fact that the Minister belongs to an alliance partner of the UPA could not be a ground for a cover-up operation”, said the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley.
“The entire nation is closely watching this investigation. Let this investigation not result in holding civil servants guilty and the Minister innocent. It was the Minister who is the prime accused and the civil servants were only carrying out his dictates”, said the BJP leader.
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