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Ex-TRAI head Baijal exposes skeletons in Manmohan Singh's cupboard

Baijal who headed the TRAI till 2006 is himself being probed by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam and also in the disinvestment of Hindustan Zinc and Laxmi Vilas Hotel. The disinvestment cases relate to his tenure as secretary disinvestment during the previous NDA rule under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

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A former top bureaucrat has alleged that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, known as "Mr Clean" was not so clean in his dealings. Even though his era of UPA-II was plagued by numerous scams, Singh succeeded to keep his image intact, passing blame on coalition compulsions and ministers from allied parties. But now Pradip Baijal, former chief of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), has punctured Singh's righteousness by holding him directly responsible for the multi-billion dollar 2G telecom scam.

Baijal who headed the TRAI till 2006 is himself being probed by the CBI in the 2G spectrum scam and also in the disinvestment of Hindustan Zinc and Laxmi Vilas Hotel. The disinvestment cases relate to his tenure as secretary disinvestment during the previous NDA rule under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He was working under then minister for disinvestment Arun Shouri, who has now fallen apart from the NDA-II government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In his soon-to-be released book, 'The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise -- A Practitioner's Diary', the former bureaucrat has given vivid details of his interrogation by the CBI officials.

Responding to the Congress charges that he was the architect of a "first-come-first-serve policy', Baijal said he had actually shot down the policy laid down by telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran. "When I went to the minister trying to explain drawbacks of this policy, he retorted me and shouted, I am Prime Minister of Telecom. You do what I am telling you," he said.

Reacting to Baijal's charges, Congress spokesman Randip Singh Surjiwala said the officer was being probed for his role in the disinvestment he had approved during the Vajpayee era under Shouri. "After his retirement from the TRAI, the officer was director at the Nira Radia's firm," said Surjiwala. He expressed surprise at the timing of Baijal's diatribe, coinciding the CBI's clean chit to Radia, the Kenya-born and London-educated corporate lobbyist.

Baijal told dna on phone that instead of intervening and setting the telecom policy right, Manmohan Singh sided with the minister Maran. "Why are you not cooperating with the minister?" Baijal quoted Singh as telling him. He believed that 'Mr Clean' Singh was fully aware of what was happening, but preferred to keep quiet. Later the PM also shielded A Raja, who replaced Maran as telecom minister. "They (CBI) had warned me in each case that I would be harmed if I didn't cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the Prime Minister had told me would happen if I did not cooperate," Baijal writes in his book.

Earlier the former top telecom officer told TV channels that he had little choice but to go with the minister. "In 2003, the government had asked me to give the Unified Service Licensing (USL) recommendations within 6 months. I gave the recommendation in a year. The government had told me not to give the recommendation. But I felt would get into serious trouble if I didn't give the recommendation. So I gave it," said Baijal. "After that, I was not treated properly," he said.

"The problem with that recommendation was that it did not support the old USL regime. The old regime continued which led to the 2G scam. People tried to implicate me in the scam. I was not concerned with the scam. I'd left TRAI in 2006 whereas the scam took place in 2007 and 2008," he added.

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