Friday, September 30, 2011: The CPI-M today demanded the resignation
of Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying there was “mounting evidence”
about his “direct role and involvement” in the 2G spectrum allocation
scandal.
“He (Chidambaram) has said the matter is closed. I am afraid the
matter is not closed… We are demanding his resignation in light of the
mounting evidence about his direct role and involvement in the policy
and implementation of allocation of licenses of 2G spectrum,” party
General Secretary Prakash Karat told reporters here.
He said the Finance Ministry note was not the handiwork of a single
officer but “prepared in consultation with various departments,
including the Prime Minister’s Office, and coordinated by the Cabinet
Secretary”.
Yesterday also, senior CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury had
said that the Cabinet will have to take “collective responsibility” on
the matter and cannot find fault with only one or two persons.
The Finance Ministry note of March 25 had said that the 2G scam could
have been avoided had the then Finance Minister had insisted on
auctioning of spectrum instead of giving it on 2001 prices.
“The fact is that this inter-ministerial note was the result of a
collective exercise which pin-pointed the role of Chidambaram,” he said.
Referring in a lighter vein to the clarificatory statement made by
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee yesterday, Karat said he had “an
onerous task of rescuing his cabinet colleague. I sympathise with his
plight…I think Mukherjee has spoken the truth, which is good”.
He said Chidambaram’s action as the then Finance Minister showed he
was “going along with the actions of A Raja. Has this not been
responsible for the massive loss to the state exchequer? This is the
main issue. It is very much alive and he should step down from the
Cabinet”.
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