Former Union Minister for External Affairs and Congress leader Salman Khursheed pointed at a conspiracy to discredit the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government using the 2G spectrum auction.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Khursheed said former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai’s recent confession that he had misread the auction and saw corruption, where it did not exist, was suggestive of such a plot.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had echoed Mr. Rai’s insinuation and demanded an inquiry that ended in the wrongful prosecution of UPA Ministers and MPs.
Mr. Rai had pegged corruption in the 2G spectrum auction at ₹1.76 crore. He and the BJP had alleged that the sale had the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s approval. Both should apologise to Mr. Singh, Mr. Khursheed said.
The UPA government had auctioned 2G spectrum at an international rate to fast-track social and economic benefits of mobile and data network coverage. The BJP and others had attempted to cast aspersions on the far-sighted and ultimately fruitful project.
‘Many rewarded’
Mr. Khursheed said the successive BJP government rewarded the ‘plotters’ with top posts. The NDA appointed Mr. Rai as chairman of the Banking Recruitment Board with a rank befitting a Union Cabinet Minister. General V.K. Singh has been a Cabinet Minister for the past seven years and twice MP. Kiran Bedi served as governor of the Union Territory of Pudussery. Baba Ramdev became a billionaire overnight, Mr. Khursheed alleged. Anna Hazare stopped his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who tomtom the BJP-sponsored anti-UPA propaganda, also benefitted.
The special judge who tried the 2G spectrum case had doubted the legality of the charge sheet in the case, Mr. Khursheed said.
