Is Chidambaram not being sacked because embers will reach PMO, asks BJP

BJP today asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify his stand on the alleged involvement of the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in second-generation (2G) mobile telephony spectrum case and wondered if the latter is not being sacked as PMO fears "embers of the fire" may reach it.

Reiterating its demand for the resignation of Chidambaram, BJP wanted to know at whose behest was the much-publicised note by the Finance Ministry prepared?

"At whose instance did the Finance Ministry prepare the note for the PMO?... The country is certainly entitled to know if the PMO had asked for the note. If yes, why was there no follow-up action?" BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

BJP alleged that even in the case of former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is now in jail in connection with 2G scam case, the prime minister had initially said twice that he is not guilty.

"Is the same story going to repeat itself in the case of P Chidambaram?" Prasad said.

"Skeletons are fighting skeletons and rocking the boat of UPA. How long will you keep quiet, Mr Prime Minister?" Prasad said.

He said the government cannot get away by saying this new development is also due to coalition politics as the "expose" has come from the Finance Ministry of Pranab Mukherjee who is no. 2 in the cabinet.

"We want to ask the prime minister if the compulsion to shield Chidambaram is there as the embers of the fire can reach the PMO," Prasad said.

He insisted that corruption in UPA-II was not due to coalition dharma but the "coalition dharma of UPA-II is built around corruption".

He charged there seems to be a competition among UPA ministers to be more corrupt than the other.

BJP also wondered how the prime minister has expressed "full confidence" in Chidambaram without going into the merits of the case in the wake of the new "revelations".

"Is his confidence in his ministerial colleague more important than a fair inquiry?" he said.

BJP also questioned the functioning of CBI in 2G spectrum scam probe as well as other cases in which the UPA-II government is in the dock.

"CBI is more than keen to take the testimony of Jaswant Singh as he had headed the GOM on telecom but is absolutely stonewalling the questioning of Chidambaram," Prasad said.

The opposition raised objections to the contention of some "lawyer-ministers" in the government that a change of policy is not a crime.

"Section 12 of Prevention of Corruption Act lists criminal misconduct or abuse of his position by a public servant as an offence... Chidambaram allowed some people to get pecuniary advantage without public interest," Prasad said.

He alleged Chidambaram's "culpability is clear" in the case as "not taking timely action for the benefit of someone is also a crime".

The BJP spokesperson said that in Raja's case, the prime minister had made a "mistake and made a laughing stock" and he should not do so in Chidambaram's case also.