Sonia G tells party to get aggressive on 2G, CAG
24 Nov 2012 6:52 AM IST
The Congress has decided to go belligerent on the issue of former DG (Audit) RP Singh questioning the ‘partisan role’ of CAG Vinod Rai. After the core group committee meeting on Friday, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, on an aggressive note, said the BJP had been ‘exposed’ following RP Singh’s accusations. The party is likely to counter the Opposition attack in parliament with this new found salvo.
Former auditor RP Singh has leveled charges against the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the CAG stated that 2G allocation losses were fudged, giving the UPA enough ammunition to counter the Opposition’s attack on the government. Highly-placed sources in the Congress have told Millennium Post that during this meeting Sonia Gandhi clearly directed her party members to take an aggressive stand on the issue raised by RP Singh, and raise this issue in Parliament. Party insiders feel by doing so the BJP would be put on a back foot.
While BJP leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi rejected Singh’s allegations, he asked why he had not spoken about it in the PAC when he appeared before it. ‘It’s a conspiracy by Congress and other vested interests just to malign CAG and PAC,’ said Joshi.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said he had received indications from various party MPs to have a discussion on this issue in Parliament. These include MPs from BSP, SP and the DMK, said a source.
‘We must not allow the institution of the CAG to be criticised, but if someone from within makes such allegations then people and Parliament should know the truth,’ Nath said. On a similar note, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said, ‘I don’t think we really need to respond to this. The facts are before the public…I am saddened by the fact that a solemn process, a constitution process, was being adulterated in this manner…Institutions must survive and we will ensure the corrections take place.’ I&B minister Manish Tewari said, ‘The issues raised by RP Singh, former DG, P&T, in CAG are very germane. What is extremely important is that in May 2010 when the draft report was prepared, the loss was quantified at Rs 2,645 crore, but in November 2010 when the report was presented in Parliament, this loss jumped to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. How did this leap of faith take place?’
Former auditor RP Singh has leveled charges against the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the CAG stated that 2G allocation losses were fudged, giving the UPA enough ammunition to counter the Opposition’s attack on the government. Highly-placed sources in the Congress have told Millennium Post that during this meeting Sonia Gandhi clearly directed her party members to take an aggressive stand on the issue raised by RP Singh, and raise this issue in Parliament. Party insiders feel by doing so the BJP would be put on a back foot.
While BJP leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi rejected Singh’s allegations, he asked why he had not spoken about it in the PAC when he appeared before it. ‘It’s a conspiracy by Congress and other vested interests just to malign CAG and PAC,’ said Joshi.
Parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said he had received indications from various party MPs to have a discussion on this issue in Parliament. These include MPs from BSP, SP and the DMK, said a source.
‘We must not allow the institution of the CAG to be criticised, but if someone from within makes such allegations then people and Parliament should know the truth,’ Nath said. On a similar note, telecom minister Kapil Sibal said, ‘I don’t think we really need to respond to this. The facts are before the public…I am saddened by the fact that a solemn process, a constitution process, was being adulterated in this manner…Institutions must survive and we will ensure the corrections take place.’ I&B minister Manish Tewari said, ‘The issues raised by RP Singh, former DG, P&T, in CAG are very germane. What is extremely important is that in May 2010 when the draft report was prepared, the loss was quantified at Rs 2,645 crore, but in November 2010 when the report was presented in Parliament, this loss jumped to Rs 1.76 lakh crore. How did this leap of faith take place?’
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