The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a constituent of the of United Progressive Alliance government, favours a multi-member Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the lines of the Election Commission (EC), saying that the outcome of the latest 2G spectrum auction has exposed the CAG’s report on the 2008 allocation and justified the need for expanding the body.
The DMK was at the receiving end after the CAG report that shocked the nation by pegging the presumptive loss in the spectrum allocation at Rs 1.76 lakh cror and led to the resignation and subsequent arrest of former Communications Minister A. Raja and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi. DMK president M. Karunanidhi, in a statement on Monday, said the latest auction for 2G spectrum, netting just Rs. 9,000 crore, proved beyond doubt that the CAG report was totally baseless. “What is wrong in making the CAG a multi-member body to avoid such to avoid such reports in future,” he wondered. Drawing a parallel with the EC, another constitutional body, he said there was nothing wrong in airing views that the CAG should also be expanded. He noted that the Chief Election Commissioners and the two Election Commissioners took all decisions only after discussion and consensus.
The issue of having a multi-member CAG should be viewed in the backdrop of the opposition parties’ efforts to hinder the functioning of the government based on the CAG reports on 2G spectrum allocation and coal block allocation in which the presumptive losses were estimated to be Rs 1.76 lakh crore and Rs 1.86 lakh crore respectively. Keeping in mind the problems it faced in the recent past, the Centre should consult experts to take an appropriate decision, Mr. Karunanidhi said.
The DMK president sought backing for his views by quoting Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari and V. Narayanasamy, who had all questioned the findings of the CAG report after the recent auction and said it was up to the CAG and the media to explain whether there really was a loss of Rs. 1.76 lakh crore.
