Could it be the detractors of Pranob in the Congress?
The Opposition was paralyzing the Parliament last year and Pranob was the liaison of the Congress to negotiate with the Opposition.
There was talk at that time that Pranob was exploring possibilities of his becoming the PM with the help of the Opposition in a sort of Political coup with quid pro quo promised to the opposition.On September 7 last year, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to order a 'secret inquiry' into what he called a “serious breach of security” in his office: the presence of “planted adhesives” in 16 key locations that suggested a possible surveillance attempt.
These locations included the office of the Finance Minister himself, the office of his Advisor Omita Paul, the office of his Private Secretary Manoj Pant, and two conference rooms used by the Finance Minister, including the main conference hall on the ground floor of the heavily guarded North Block.
Did the FM,being an Economist, not know that the Spectrum band will fetch more if auctioned?
Why did not he check with TRAI on the statement of Raja on its recommendations?
Or was he also unaware that TRAI has that function?
Did he not deem it fit to question Raja why Spectrum has to be kept out of the Cabinet or GOM?
Says he is helpless in a coalition politics.
He should have come out with this statement that DMK is compelling him to accept their nominee, specifically Raja, then and there.
Now he can not say he knew something might be wrong and he was helpless.
Abetting Crime is more serious than executing it.
Story:
At a roundtable with television editors in his home on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there were complaints “from all sides” about the way former Telecom Minister A Raja had distributed 2G spectrum but he was “not in a position” to make up his mind if anything was seriously wrong.
Singh said he had made his concerns clear to A Raja on 2G spectrum allocation but was assured by Raja — “on the same day” — that he was doing nothing wrong and that his methods were “absolutely transparent”.
Singh also said though he had conveyed his unease to Raja about 2G, he did not press further for auction after the Ministries of Telecom and Finance agreed to go by the prevailing system of first-come first-served.
The Prime Minister’s meet comes amid increasing clamour that he speak on the scams that have rocked the second term of the UPA government.
The Prime Minister assured the country that his government was “dead serious” in bringing to book all wrongdoers “regardless of their positions” in the 2G spectrum, CWG, ISRO and Adarsh scams.
Singh defended himself on Wednesday against accusations his government was a lameduck, saying it was trying to bring justice in some of the country’s biggest corruption scandals in decades.
“Whatever some people may say, that we are a lame duck government, that I am a lame duck Prime Minister, we take our job very seriously. We are here to govern, and to govern effectively. Tackle the problems as they arise and get this country moving forward,” he said.
Still on 2G, Singh said the issue of licences were never brought before him or the Cabinet.
The Prime Minister asserted that he was “not afraid of appearing before any committee, including a JPC”. “I will be quite happy to appear before any committee,” he said.
“I have never felt like resigning. I have a job to do. I never thought of giving up half-way,” he added.
Singh admitted there are certain compulsions in coalition politics, “compromises have to be made”, but also assured that the coalition was strong and there was “no danger of inner tension leading to a break-up”. “Our allies are with us whole-heartedly,” he said.
Singh also said the UPA government was in talks with the Opposition to break the logjam in Parliament over 2G. “Parliament should be allowed to function,” he said.
Allegations the government may have lost up to $39 billion in revenues after firms were awarded telecoms deals at rock-bottom prices in return for kickbacks have rocked the ruling coalition and compounded India’s fragile investment climate.
The 78-year-old Singh has been under increasing pressure to stamp out on corruption and his decision-making appears to have been paralysed in his second term despite winning re-election with an increased majority.
The scandals have taken a heavy toll on Singh, concerned his legacy is transforming from one of being the founders of India’s economic boom to someone who did nothing to stop corruption or policy paralysis.
Singh may have hoped the current scandals would ebb. But an aggressive media, an assertive Supreme Court and an opposition tasting political blood have seen momentum into the corruption probes grow.
‘Commons Speaker John Bercow has signalled his support for backdated caps on MPs’ expenses, despite anger among many politicians’.-BBC 15/10/09 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8308034.stm
Comment:
Do these politicians require blank check for swindling public money?it will not be a surprise if they pass a legislation to legalize swindling for themselves .Is there any honor left among them?Of course, expecting propriety and decency from these criminals , who betray Public trust, is foolish.
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