It's time for the 'silent majority' to speak up: CAG

"Democracy is at crossroads today and each one of us assembled here needs to contribute to debunk the myth of the silent majority," Rai said addressing his Hindu college-mates at a function where he received the 'Alumunus of the Decade' award.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai, who has won many foes after a number of scams were unearthed by his watchdog, on Friday said the democracy was at the "crossroads" and it was time for the "silent majority" to speak up.

HT Image

Hinting that the pro-active nature of CAG had not gone down well with many, he said, that work done by his institution had taken a toll on his friendships.

"Democracy is at crossroads today and each one of us assembled here needs to contribute to debunk the myth of the silent majority," Rai said addressing his Hindu college-mates at a function where he received the 'Alumunus of the Decade' award.

"The time has come for the majority not to be silent because it is a minority which speaks on the behalf of the majority," the CAG added.

Rai has come under severe attack from various quarters in the government, with some even suggesting that he was over-stepping the mandate that the CAG has.

The CAG particularly courted controversy in its assessment of 2G spectrum allocation, with its calculation of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss being questioned repeatedly.

Surrounded by his alma mater, Rai said in the lighter vein, "The pace at which I am losing friends, this award better came this year. Next year you may probably not even decide to give this award to me."

The CAG said his friends "in bureaucracy and otherwise have stopped even acknowledging me everytime they are on my wrong side or I am on their wrong side."

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy, another Hindu College alumnus who has played a key role as a whistle-blower in various scams including 2G spectrum allocation, was also honoured with 'Distinguished Alumnus' award along with Congress Leader Rao Inderjeet Singh.