BJP questions Raja's silence over alleged NDA-era scam

New Delhi, Oct. 31 (ANI): Countering allegations levelled by Telecom Minister A Raja that the BJP-led NDA government was involved in the "biggest ever spectrum allocation scam", BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has asked why Raja has remained silent so far.

"I say where was Mr. Raja up till now? There have been now five years of their own rule. He was the minister; he could have said it earlier. Because now he is under dock therefore they are coming with all these things," Joshi said.

Raja said on Friday that that the NDA had distributed free spectrum to operators depriving the exchequer of over 1,60,000 rupees crore revenue.

He added that the NDA Government not only distributed free spectrum, it also violated all norms by giving the frequency far in excess of 4.4 MHz to many leading operators.

The BJP has been demanding for Raja's resignation ever since CBI searched offices of the Telecom Ministry and some private mobile operators last week over a spectrum allocation scam case.

Raja had said he wouldn't step down from his position in the wake of charges that his spectrum allocation policies have caused a revenue loss of 60,000 crore rupees.

"I will not step down. Ours is a government that has followed all rules to the letter and spirit by following the recommendations of TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)," he said. (ANI)