Raja speaking in desperation: BJP

October 30, 2009 07:37 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 06:44 am IST - New Delhi

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja. File photo: R. Ragu

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja. File photo: R. Ragu

The BJP today refuted the accusations of Telecom Minister A Raja against the NDA government and senior party leader Arun Jaitley, saying that he was speaking "in desperation" and demanded that he be sacked for alleged discrepancies in 2G Spectrum allotment.

"A Raja is speaking in desperation and indulging in falsehood. The core question is if 3G Spectrum can be auctioned why was 2G Spectrum not auctioned to get the best price as suggested by (telecom regulator) TRAI," BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Mr Raja had earlier in the day alleged that the BJP-led NDA government had distributed free spectrum to operators. He called it the "biggest ever scam" and said it had deprived the exchequer of over Rs 1,60,000 crore in revenue.

He also accused Mr Jaitley, who has called for his resignation, of favouring major operators during the NDA rule and also defending one of them in the high court.

"Raja has no explanations to all the charges (against him) and is only making baseless allegations against BJP and Jaitley," Mr Prasad said.

The Rajya Sabha MP accused Mr Raja of giving 2G Spectrum in 2007 at 2001 prices though the "telecom sector has grown phenomenally" since.

"Raja should be sacked immediately," he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.