Chidambaram should resign or be dismissed, says BJP

New Delhi, Sep 22: Referring to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's letter to the Prime Minister in the 2-G spectrum case, BJP today (Sept 22) alleged that Home Minister P Chidambaram was involved in the scam and demanded that he should resign or else be sacked immediately.

"The Finance Ministry officials were telling the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram to go for auctions. Why was it not done?.... There are clear contradictions here. I strongly demand that either Chidambaram should resign or he should be dismissed forthwith," senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi told reporters.

Citing several "anomalies" in the process of 2-G spectrum allocation, Joshi sought to know why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not take timely action to prevent the scam.

"It is most disgraceful that a Finance Minister (Chidambaram) has pushed the country into a scam..... The Prime Minister should also answer why he was so easily misled. Everything was in his knowledge," Joshi said.

BJP further demanded that the "exact quantum of loss" to the country due to this scam should be determined by the present Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and made public. He said CBI should also inquire into the role of Chidambaram in the scam.

"I also want to ask CBI that despite so much evidence being there against Chidambaram, why did it not question him on his involvement," Joshi said.

He also asked Mukherjee to speak out about his letter to the Prime Minister, saying only the scam is sub-judice and not this document.

PTI