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2G note: Sonia to discuss issue with Manmohan, Pranab
Sonia Gandhi will take up the issue of finance ministry note's to the PMO involving P Chidambaram on spectrum allocation once Manmohan Singh and Pranab Mukherjee return to the country, sources tell HT. The tangle
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take up the issue of finance ministry note's to the PMO involving P Chidambaram on spectrum allocation through auction once Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee return to the country, according to sources.
The PM is in New York to attend the UNGA session and Pranab Mukherjee is in New York too to attend an India-US investor forum.
A finance ministry note to the prime minister's office (PMO) this year said the 2G spectrum scam could have been avoided if then finance minister P Chidambaram had insisted on spectrum allocation through auction.
This has led to a political slugfest with BJP demanding home minister P Chidambaram's resignation and Congress snubbing it for "jumping to conclusions".
The CPI also demanded that Chidambaram's role as the then finance minister needs to be examined and questioned.
The telecom ministry could have gone in for auction of 2G spectrum licenses had the then finance minister P Chidambaram insisted on this, according to a finance ministry document submitted to the Supreme Court.
BJP charged that Mukherjee's letter to the Prime Minister in the case shows the "complicity" of Chidambaram and demanded his resignation. The party also alleged that not only UPA allies but also the Congress were involved in it.
"Ultimately, the cat is out of the bag. It was very clear from day one that Chidambaram agreed to A Raja's formula for 2-G spectrum allocation. If he had stuck to the finance ministry officials position that spectrum should not be allocated in 2008 at 2001 prices the scam would not have taken place," BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
He insisted that the revelations- through an RTI reply- have exposed Chidambaram's complicity in the 2G spectrum scam as finance minister in UPA-I government.
Javdekar demanded that in the wake of this expose, Chidambaram should step down from his post.
Lashing out at BJP, Congress accused it of "jumping to conclusions" on the 2G issue with its demand for Chidambaram's resignation.
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