Should PM's Role In 2G Scam Be Probed?

The latest 2G fire has reached the Prime Minister’s doors. With the Home Minister and then Finance Minister P Chidambaram already facing heat over his alleged negligence in the 2G scam, the focus has now shifted to PM himself. The 2G scam is getting increasingly uncomfortable for Singh. The documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) act clearly say that Singh had intervened to ensure that the 2G spectrum pricing would be the Telecom Ministry’s prerogative. At this stage, is it really impertinent to probe the role of our Prime Minister?

Maran’s Letter To PM

A letter written by former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran in 2006 to PM has opened a Pandora’s Box for Singh.

In January 2006, Singh had approved a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look after the additional spectrum for private telecom players. The Groups terms of reference included the price of the 2G spectrum. A protest meeting by Maran with Prime Minister in February and a letter by the former Telecom Minister forced the PM to dilute the agenda of the GoM, and leave the pricing issue exclusively in the hands of the Telecom Ministry.

 In the letter dated February 28, 2006, Maran had asked Singh to recall their meeting on February 1, when he urged the PM to dilute the terms of reference, so that the pricing issue would not come under GoM. The letter also reminded Singh of his assurance that, “the terms of reference of the GoM would be drawn up exactly the way we wanted, which was to focus only on the issue of vacation of spectrum.”

It is clear that the PM was arm twisted into accepting Maran’s demand, which later led to one of country’s worst scams under Raja.

Apart from his complacency in the pricing issue, Singh has also come under the scanner for ignoring the advice of then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukharjee.

PM Ignored Pranab Mukharjee’s Warning

The PM and the government are currently battling hard to counter the note sent by Pranab Mukherjee‘s ministry to the Prime Minister’s office that questions P Chidambaram’s actions. Another letter by Mukherjee, discovered under the RTI act has added to woes of the Prime Minister.

 In December 26, 2007, the then Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the head of GoM had written to the PM warning him of the consequences of an incorrect policy. Mukherjee had cautioned Singh on the problems of not adhering to a clear-cut strategy. He stressed that it was essential for the department of telecom (DoT) to issue the new norms immediately so that the spectrum allocation is done in a transparent manner. He made these observations 15 days before Raja made the controversial allocations of spectrum licences to private companies.

The Prime Minister chose to ignore the counsel and allowed the Telecom Ministry to act on its own whims.

Kanimozi Had Threatened To Call PM as a Witness

The RTI revealed blunders on the part of the PM seem to substantiate Kanimozi’s claims that Prime Minister Manmohan

 Singh and P Chidambaram were indeed present during the 2G spectrum license allocation and were aware of the whole process. Senior counsel Sushil Kumar, appearing for Kanimozi, told a special CBI court last month that the Prime Minister and the then Finance minister P. Chidambaram had complete knowledge of the 2G license allocations, and had decided along with former telecom minister A. Raja not to auction these.

PM Can No Longer Hide Behind Coalition Politics

The Prime Minister can no longer hide behind the compulsions of coalition politics. The prime minister of India has  absolute powers in running the country. If Maran or Raja had flouted the ethical norms, he should have acted against them. Singh instead chose to be a mute spectator to the crimes of his ministers. The personal integrity of the PM cannot absolve him of his greater responsibilities. At a time when the country is sparing nobody for corruption, Singh could find himself facing a probe, leading to major political repercussions in India.

Related articles

• Why Chidu is Silent? (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
• Most Corrupted Politicians (ktrmurali.wordpress.com)
• Kanimozhi Karunanidhi threatens to present Manmohan Singh as witness (panasianbiz.com)
• Defining moment for Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi (offstumped.in)
• 2G Scam,Manmohan Singh Knew all.- PMO Documents/Video. (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• 2 G Scam-Raja to implicate PM Manmohan Singh. (ramanan50.wordpress.com)
• 2G Scam, ‘No auction was Government Policy’- DoT Affidavit (ramanan50.wordpress.com)

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