Chennai:
Rarely has a serving minister been so ferociously pulled up for breaking the rules. Despite the profuse criticism of A Raja by a report of the government's auditor, the DMK says the Telecom Minister has no need to resign.
A draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says the inappropriate policies followed by the minister in awarding 2G spectrum cost the government a massive 1.76 lakh crores. That doesn't worry his party, the DMK. "This case is pending in the Supreme Court. CAG is only an audit forum ...if we go by CAG reports, no minister would be able to function," said DMK spokesperson, TKS Elangovan.
The DMK is a crucial ally in the UPA government at the Centre, and the Congress' partner in Tamil Nadu. On Wednesday, the Congress cited the congenital co-dependency of coalition politics to justify its helplessness. "We have to respect coalition dharma," said Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan.
The report is unwavering in its verdict that Raja was the fulcrum of the losses.
"The Honourable Minister of Communication & IT, for no apparent logical or valid reasons, ignored the advice of Ministry of Law and Ministry of Finance, avoided the deliberations of the Telecom Commission to allocate 2G spectrum, a scarce finite national asset at less than its true value on flexible criteria and procedures adopted to benefit a few operators," says the report.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Prime Minister will decide on whether Raja can continue in office after he returns from Seoul where he is attending the G-20 summit.
In Parliament, the BJP and the AIADMK are leading the Opposition's demand that Raja be dismissed. Both parties have asked for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to be set up, who will then set up an inquiry.