BJP: don't nurse bruised ego, just fix responsibility

Reacting to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement on the finance ministry's controversial note on the 2G spectrum allocation, in the presence of home minister P Chidambaram on Thursday, the BJP said the issue was not one of settling bruised egos but of fixing responsibility for the loss of "lakhs of crores" of revenue.

Reacting to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement on the finance ministry's controversial note on the 2G spectrum allocation, in the presence of home minister P Chidambaram on Thursday, the BJP said the issue was not one of settling bruised egos but of fixing responsibility for the loss of "lakhs of crores" of revenue.

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"Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee's statement that the March 25 note of the finance ministry does not represent his views sounds comical. A proper government memorandum was seen by the finance minister and consulted with the Prime Minister's office, cabinet secretary, law secretary and telecom ministry," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said. "Licenses could have been cancelled but Chidambaram did not do so," Prasad added.

"This is not an internal matter among Congress ministers or settlement of their bruised egos. It concerns loot of public revenue and over-ruling of repeated advice of senior officers by Chidambaram to facilitate massive irregularities of the then telecom minister A Raja," Prasad said.

He also rejected Chidam-baram's acceptance of Mukherjee's statement. "Who is Chidambaram to accept Mukherjee's statement when there is mounting evidence against him? He should resign and his role be investigated."