Congress in fix as opposition turns up heat on A Raja

The clamour for telecom minister A Raja’s head intensified on Thursday, a day after the contents of the damning Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report over the 2G spectrum allocations became public.

The report had estimated the loss to the government from the allocations of 2008 at Rs1.76 lakh crore and held that the precious national asset was pawned away at much less than its market value.

The BJP-led opposition stalled Parliament for the second consecutive day even as AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa offered support to the Congress at the Centre if it dumped the DMK leader.

The telecom ministry, meanwhile, defended Raja in the Supreme Court, maintaining the CAG did not have the authority to question the policy decision as per which 2G licences were issued.

Despite being on the defensive after the spirited attack from the opposition and under pressure from the DMK not to relent, the government struck an aggressive note, saying Raja won’t be removed anytime soon. It also rejected the demand for a joint parliamentary probe (JPC), stating any decision on the issue could be taken after the report of the CAG, which has “indicted” Raja, is discussed in Parliament.

“The CAG has already given its report. The public accounts committee (PAC), which is a mini JPC, will go into the issue and report to Parliament. It will again be debated. Why is there a demand for a JPC?” home minister P Chidambaram told reporters.

He said if at all a JPC is to be constituted, it will have to look into the entire gamut of decisions taken since the days of the NDA in the telecom sector.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said, “Corruption is a serious issue... CAG (report) is yet to be finalised.” He added that after the PAC submits its report to Parliament, “it is the right of Parliament to go for a structured discussion. That is what Parliament is meant for.”

He said Raja may have been “indicted by one organisation (CAG), (but) that is not the end of the matter... the matter is before the Sup-reme Court... we should not make a final decision on anything only after listening to one point and then inflate the issue.”     

To forestall action against Raja, DMK leader and party chief M Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.

She is understood to have told him that he should not be removed from the Union cabinet.

“Why should he (Raja) resign,” asked DMK spokesperson and Lok Sabha member TKS Elangovan, saying that everyone should wait for the CBI probe to end.

“Whatever the minister did was based on the norms set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Let the CBI inquiry into the issue end first,” he said.

J Jayalalithaa, meanwhile, offered unconditional support of 18 MPs, including nine from like-minded parties to the government if it dropped Raja. The Congress, however, was dismissive about the offer.

“My priority is that probity should be restored and perpetrator of such a massive scam should not go scot-free simply because of coalition political compulsions,” the former Tamil Nadu chief minister told a news channel.

Commenting on the offer, Union minister and AICC in-charge of Tamil Nadu Ghulam Nabi Azad said “there is no vacancy in Tamil Nadu” as the party already has an alliance with the DMK. AICC media department chairman Janardhan Dwivedi said “at the moment, it is very clear that the DMK is our very important alliance partner.”

The Congress realises that Jayalalithaa will be a bigger problem than the DMK. Moreover, the Trinamul Congress with 19 MPs is not exactly cosy with the party at the moment. Party chief Mamata Bannerjee is upset at not being invited for the Obama dinner on November 7. Given the difficulty to handle her, the Congress cannot afford to dump DMK.

Quotes:
Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP spokesperson
“The BJP stand is that A Raja should be sacked immediately and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe should be ordered into the 2-G Spectrum allocation scam.”
P Chidambaram, Union home minister
“The CAG has already given its report. The public accounts committee (PAC), which is a mini JPC, will go into the issue and report to Parliament. It will again be debated. Why is there a demand for JPC?”
J Jayalalithaa, AIADMK chief
“My priority is that probity should be restored and perpetrator of such a massive scam should not go scot-free simply because of coalition political compulsions… I have the numbers to replace the 18 DMK members.”
TKS Elangovan, DMK spokesperson
“Why should he (Raja) resign?...Whatever the minister did was based on the norms set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Let the CBI inquiry into the issue end first.”