BJP says fresh controversy over Chidambaram's role in 2G scam stunning

Guwahati, Sep 22 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy dubbed the recent report regarding the involvement of the former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2-G spectrum allocation scam as stunning.

Talking to reporters here, Rudy said: "A very stunning revelation has come in and this stunning revelation has come from none else than Finance Minister of this country."

Rudy further asked how Chidambaram could side with former telecom minister A. Raja and allow him to "steal" Rs 1.76 lakh crore from the exchequer.

Chidambaram came under fire after a 14-page note, prepared by a senior bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry and seen by Pranab Mukherjee, suggests that Chidambaram could have acted more stridently in 2008, when he was Finance Minister.

The note relied heavily on technicalities; says that Chidambaram could have "stuck to the stand" of an auction of highly-valuable spectrum.

The note has came into the public domain after a query filed under the Right to Information (RTI) act by Vivek Garg, an activist.

The telecom scam, one of India's biggest graft cases ever, may have cost 39.57 billion dollars in revenue to the public exchequer as per the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

In its report, the CAG had disclosed that several guidelines and rules were flouted during the allocation of spectrum licences, which led to many ineligible firms winning licences.

A. Raja was sacked in November last year after being charged with giving away telecom licences in 2008 for a pittance at meagre prices of 2001 in the CAG report. He was later arrested on charges of misuse of ministerial office and criminal misconduct. (ANI)