Senior Congress leader and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday refused to comment on spectrum controversy involving Telecom Minister A. Raja, saying that whatever has to be said will be said in Parliament.
“Parliament is in session. Whatever needs to be said on Telecom Minister A. Raja, will be said in the Parliament,” Mr. Mukherjee told reporters on the sidelines of World Economic Forum in New Delhi.
Earlier in the the day, top brass of the Congress, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, held consultations in New Delhi against the backdrop of the opposition demand for the removal of Mr. Raja from the Union Cabinet.
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Mr. Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel, political secretary to the Congress president, were also present during the deliberations that took place at Parliament House.
The leaders were at Parliament House to pay floral tributes at the portrait of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary.
The consultations assume significance in the wake of the opposition, including the BJP and the Left, threatening to continue to stall Parliament if Mr. Raja is not removed from the Union Council of Ministers.
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However, Mr. Raja has ruled out his resignation, saying he has done everything according to the procedures set by his predecessors. His party chief M. Karunanidhi has defended him saying he was not “guilty”.