The Congress on Friday rubbished the claim of the former Telecom Minister, Arun Shourie, that he had informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the spectrum scam, describing it as a “conscious attempt to confuse and confound.”
Coming out in defence of the Prime Minister, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that it was “regrettable” that “such sweeping allegations were made against a person of impeccable integrity like the Prime Minister...it is a travesty of truth and a conscious attempt to mislead and misinform, confuse and confound.”
Questioning the timing of Mr. Shourie's revelation, Mr. Singhvi asked: “ Why are such sweeping allegations being made only after the one-man committee chaired by Justice Shivraj Patil submitted a report, which has catalogued certain illegalities and irregularities by successive governments – by their bureaucracy and ministers – in the last eight or nine years?”
“Deflecting attention”
Mr. Singhvi said Mr. Shourie was trying to deflect attention from the responsibility he should take for the period he was telecom minister, rather than attack the Prime Minister. The fact that Mr. Shourie was raising the issue after the lapse of so much time raised serious questions about his true motive as well of his party in making such allegations, he added.
