It was the day for telecom minister A Raja to come out of hiding and respond to the allegations of corruption and demands for his resignation.
It was the day for telecom minister A Raja to come out of hiding and respond to the allegations of corruption and demands for his resignation. In an interview to DNA, Raja toed the line taken by the law ministry that he was merely implementing set policies.
Excerpts:
What is your comment on the Comptroller and Auditor
General’s report?
I haven’t gone through the CAG report yet. I am ready for an inquiry.... The entire matter is sub-judice. It may not be fair on my part to comment on this.... Whatever I have done is according to the law. I only followed the rules and the telecom policy fixed by the cabinet in 1999.
But CAG has said that you caused a loss of Rs1.7 lakh crore to the government?
I haven’t seen the CAG report since it has not been tabled in the parliament. But lots of news are flying about. I must clarify that when the government moved, by virtue of the telecom policy of 1999, from auction route to revenue share route, the same criticism was given by the CAG and tabled in the parliament. The public accounts committee did not take any action. The same policy [of first come, first served] has been followed by all my predecessors. The policy was in light of the vision document for the telecom sector.
The opposition is demanding your resignation
Where does that question arise from? It doesn’t arise at all…everything has been done according to the law. We will prove everything in the court. They are politically motivated.
What is your response to Jayalalithaa’s offer of support
to the UPA government?
She (Jayalalithaa) has no moral right to make such statements. She is the only chief minister in the country who refused to recognise her own signature in the court of law to save her skin. She is facing corruption charges herself. She has no moral right to offer support to the UPA.
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