BJP demands resignations of PM, Chidambaram over Raja remark

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday demanded the resignations of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and then finance minister P. Chidambaram after allegations by former communications minister A. Raja that both knew about transactions in the 2G spectrum allocation.

"Today (Monday) Raja has made it clear in the court that all the transactions in the 2G case were cleared after permission was given by prime minister and Chidambaram," BJP president Nitin Gadkari told reporters in New Delhi.

"Sonia Gandhi (Congress chief) always claims that action will be taken against those found corrupt... then why silence on this matter? I want to ask Sonia Gandhi whether Raja's confession in the court is direct evidence of the prime minister and Chidambaram's involvement (in the scam).

"I want to know their involvement in the whole scam. Sonia Gandhi should clarify what action the Congress party will take against them," Gadkari said, dubbing the corruptions scandal the "biggest scandal of Independent India".

"I demand their resignation as they (prime minister and Chidamabaram) have no right (to continue)," he said.

Raja, who is an accused in the corruption case and is behind bars, said in a special court that the foreign direct investment (FDI) made in the scam were under the scanner of finance minister and the prime minister.

"Telenor buying a stake in Unitech wireless and Etisalat buying a stake in DB Realty - the finance minister approved it in the presence of the prime minister. Let the PM deny it," Raja told a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge O.P. Saini.

The CBI Saturday concluded its arguments on the framing of charges in the 2G phone spectrum case.

Fourteen accused and three companies are charged with causing a loss of Rs.30,984 crore to the exchequer by selling the scarce resource, also called radio frequency that helps carry telecom signals, to private players cheap.