The Central Bureau of Investigation has left core issues out of its charge sheet in the 2G spectrum case, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said on Sunday.
Addressing a ‘Meet the Media Programme' here, he said the entire basis of loss to the exchequer from the sale of spectrum in 2008 at the 2001 prices had not been dealt with by the agency. There was a serious allegation pertaining to the favour shown to the DMK in Tamil Nadu. Investigation into it had conveniently been postponed.
Mr. Jaitley said the timing of the charge sheet was influenced by the elections in Tamil Nadu and the compulsion to file it within 60 days. The CBI had gone on to say that the Prime Minister had been misled regarding the allocations whereas its job was to deal with criminality and not to issue clean chits.
He said that only further investigations could reveal whether other constituents of the United Progressive Alliance had a hand in the scam. The investigations were with oversight of the Supreme Court and he hoped that the CBI would not act on political considerations. Supervision by the Central Vigilance Commission had not helped in ensuring impartiality of the CBI. The agency could be expected to be impartial only if the government in power disciplined itself.
He said that the Left parties will be without a State to rule after the elections. “(However) for cadre parties, you don't write obituaries.” Both the Left and the BJP were opposed to the Congress, but no alliance was possible because of ideological differences. The fielding of the candidate of BJP's ally Janata Dal (United) against Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan was a coincidence. When the JD (U) contested in constituencies without much base as alliance partner, the BJP did the campaigning.
The Opposition Leader said that the elections might throw up factors that would affect the longevity of the UPA government. The mood of the electorate were turning against the UPA for want of effective governance and decision making; failure to control prices, especially food prices, and a serious of scandals. Consequently, its acceptability and credibility had suffered. The elections would also deliver a set back to the Left's efforts to organise a third front. “Thus our efforts to strengthen the NDA as a principal opposition party will get a boost.”
He said that the extreme polarisation of politics between two fronts in Kerala had led to vote bank politics and hindered developmental agenda. Gaining political space by a third party under such circumstances was a challenge. “This time, we are determined to increase our votes and get a reasonable entry into the Assembly.”
