Politics is not my cup of tea: Former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai

New Delhi: In a exclusive interview to NDTV's Barkha Dutt, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai spoke about his tenure in office. "Audits will always make the Executive uncomfortable," he said and added that by definition, an auditor is ''adversarial."

(Watch the interview here)


Here are the highlights of the discussion.

• By definition, an auditor is adversarial.
• Audits will always make the Executive uncomfortable.
• On 2G: calculation was based on 4 models, nobody can deny there was a loss, the only thing that can be debated is the quantum of loss.
• I stand by the 2G loss figure of Rs 1.76 lakh crore
• Government must be seen to be supporting enterprises, not entrepreneurs.
• I never targeted anyone, just said I feel sorry for those who're saying there was no loss.
• The Supreme Court didn't cancel telecom licences based on our report.
• An auditor does the audit and places the report. Fixing responsibility is not the auditor's job.
• Also the auditor's job to sensitise people on key social sector issues like health, education
• I did not face any covert political pressure.
• It's not that the CAG has become a lot aggressive now but certainly there is more media highlight on it.
• The process of appointing the CAG is very fair and transparent
• It is not for me to say whether the opposition should be part of the appointment process
• My successor is a man of impeccable integrity
• On Harvard comment: Says If the CAG was expected to be an accountant, would the founding fathers of Constitution have made it such an exalted post.  The post is bigger than that of a Supreme Court judge
• I have never been a headline hunter.
• On Manish Tewari's challenge for a public debate on 2G: Will you ask Supreme Court judges for a debate on their verdicts after they retire.
• Never felt I had bitten more than I could chew
• I have been apolitical all my life; I'm not cut out for politics. Politics is not my cup of tea.