Chennai:
Two of the DMK's senior-most leaders are in jail for the telecom scam; a third was forced to resign as union minister. So the southern party has been waiting for a change in its political fortunes.
Payday may just have arrived after all. The DMK says that "its stand has been vindicated" by a note that criticizes P Chidambaram for not forcing an auction of second-generation or 2G spectrum in 2008 when he was Finance Minister.
Addressing a press conference in Chennai this evening, DMK supremo M Karunanidhi said, "Mr Raja has always maintained that the Prime Minister and Mr Chidambaram were kept in the loop." He also said that if Mr Chidambaram is found guilty, it is for him to decide on resigning.
At the time, A Raja, a popular Dalit leader from the DMK, was Telecom Minister. He has been arrested for undervaluing spectrum and gifting it at no charge along with mobile network licenses to companies that were ineligible. Mr Raja has repeatedly argued in court that the decisions he took were sanctioned by the Prime Minister and Mr Chidambaram.
One of the big accusations against Mr Raja is that he ignored advice from other ministers to auction the spectrum, therefore wasting a valuable national resource and costing the government thousands in crores. A note from the Finance Ministry in March this year, forwarded to the Prime Minister's office, suggests that Mr Chidambaram should have insisted on an auction. The 14-page document also says that the guidelines of telecom policy provided the government with a loophole even after Mr Raja signed off on deals that provided licenses at a paltry Rs. 1600 crores each to companies that he was allegedly colluding with. The note that criticizes Mr Chidambaram was "seen by" Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee which translates into his endorsement of its contents.
"Raja has not been denying or lying when he says senior officers and senior ministers were aware of the decision on spectrum," DMK leader and Tamil film actress Khushboo told NDTV. "So, that comes as a big relief for us. For us, as the DMK, it definitely helps," Khushboo said, referring to the finance ministry note, which came to light through a Right to Information application.
Mr Raja's arrest in February was the first big blow delivered by the 2G scam to the DMK. Then, in May, Kanimozhi, a Rajya Sabha MP whose father heads the DMK was arrested for allegedly using a TV channel partly-owned by her to accept a bribe for Mr Raja from a grateful telecom company that he had obliged. In July, the DMK's Dayanidhi Maran was forced to resign as union minister for misusing his office when he was Telecom Minister before Mr Raja for personal gain.
The questioning of Mr Chidambaram's role by a member of his own government exposes a bitter rivalry within two of the UPA's most senior ministers. It also gifts the Opposition a new point of attack. And allows the DMK to emphasize that Mr Raja is correct when he says Mr Chidambaram knew how the licenses in 2008 were to be sold and did not find fault with Mr Raja's decisions. The party believes the note on Mr Chidambaram will help Kanimozhi and Mr Raja in their trial.
Mr Chidambaram has said on different occasions that he asked Mr Raja several times to consider auctioning spectrum.
The Congress has refuted that Mr Mukerhjee's note suggests a rift within the government. Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the political battle was "a figment of the media's imagination." Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that its customary for the government to review its own policies, and if in hindsight, the policy followed in 2008 for telecom is found wanting, "You cannot drag Chidambaram's name into a case of criminality based on his policy decision."