BJP targets PM on 2G spectrum scam

New Delhi, Feb 3: Targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP today said he has remained silent for three years on the 2G spectrum scam to "save his chair" and asked who is the "godfather" of A Raja as the former Telecom Minister alone is not responsible for decisions cleared by the Union cabinet.

"Due to Prime Minister''s silence for three years in a bid to save his chair, the nation had to face such a huge loss," Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley told reporters here.

He claimed that the arrest of Raja will not compensate the loss to the national exchequer. "After three years, when you arrest him (Raja), that money cannot be brought back...it is a theatre of the absurd...," he said.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari said the Prime Minister and his cabinet were directly responsible for policy decisions on the allocation of 2G spectrum.

"The decisions by Raja and other ministers, were taken with permission from the Cabinet and the Prime Minister somewhere or the other during the process... So who is Raja's Godfather and who all were involved should be revealed to the nation which is the right of the people," Gadkari told reporters.

He alleged that the Prime Minister had not paid heed to the warnings given by officials on the matter.

Gadkari said the principal secretary in the department had written that the recommendation of the Group of Ministers to remove the pricing clause in the 2G spectrum allocation would be harmful for the nation.

"If the Prime Minister had accepted it then, this situation would perhaps not have arisen," Gadkari said.

He claimed that "under some pressure" the Prime Minister overruled the principal secretary and gave his permission.

"In this department (Telecom), in a way a license was given by the Central government to openly indulge in corruption. Government seems to have outsourced this department to DMK," Gadkari said.

PTI