I had alerted the PM on 2G scam: Arun Shourie
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie on Monday said he had alerted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then CBI director Ashwani Kumar about the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam.
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie on Monday said he had alerted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then CBI director Ashwani Kumar about the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam.
"I personally took all the relevant papers and showed them to the PM in the Rajya Sabha gallery after journalists working to unearth the scam sought my opinion," Shourie said, participating in the Devil's Advocate programme telecast on CNN IBN.
Shourie mentioned the conversation he had with Singh in Punjabi and said he had warned the PM that it was a serious matter which would "explode" if something was not done. Shourie revealed this conversation took place when former telecom minister A Raja was still holding the portfolio.
"Dr Singh held his head with his hands and asked me what could he do ?", Shourie said.
"I even told him (PM) that could ask (TKA) Nair to talk to me since I also happened to know Nair… However, for more than a month, nobody from the PMO got in touch with me," Shourie said.
The former BJP leader also stated that he had met then CBI director Ashwani Kumar with the same set of documents. "He told me that the officer I had referred to him about knew everything about the wrongdoings," Shourie said.
On being asked whether he thought the PM pleaded helplessness, Shourie replied, "I think so… There is no other reason. I was very disappointed."