File photo of former TRAI chief Pradip Baijal
Latching onto former TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal's accusations against former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in connection with the 2G scam case, BJP ministers in the Modi government today attacked the erstwhile UPA government, calling it a "coalition in corruption".
"The revelation makes it clear that it was a coalition in corruption....," Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters in Coimbatore.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Mr Baijal's claims in his book reflected how the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government functioned.
"The government of Dr Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had to face lot of shame because of 2G scam. Repeatedly they used to talk about zero loss and make fun of CAG report ....now if Pradip Baijal has written this, I haven't read his book, it is really unfortunate," Mr Prasad told a press conference in Bengaluru.
In his self-published book, "The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise - A Practitioner's Diary', Mr Baijal, who was appointed head of the telecom watchdog by the NDA government in 2003, said the 2G scam trail began under UPA's Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
"They (CBI) had warned me in each case that I would be harmed if I didn't cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the eminent economist Prime Minister had told me would happen if I did not cooperate in their scheme of things in the 2G case," Mr Baijal has written in an apparent reference to 2G case and disinvestment issues.
About the reported claim made in the book about Mr Maran asserting he was the "prime minister of the Telecom department", Mr Prasad said, "I would not wish to comment on it, but if it is true, it clearly reflects how Manmohan Singh government was functioning, where every minister thinks himself to be a Prime Minister."
"It is a matter of pain, this scam shouldn't have happened. I don't want to comment more on this, CBI inquiry is on, fair trial should happen," he added.
"If Ministers are threatening senior bureaucrats, if the Prime Minister is looking the other way, it is very serious problem. Today I can proudly say that my Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows everything which is happening in the government."
"Can we believe that Dr Manmohan Singh, the learned economist Prime Minister for ten years, was not knowing what was happening? Sad days, sad times," he added.