Unconvincing

At last, the Prime Minister has broken his silence. In his interaction with the editors of television news channels, he confirmed that he expressed concern over the allocation of 2G spectrum but did not press for action after the Telecom and Finance Ministries agreed not to auction it. But his contention that A. Raja's re-induction was not in his hands as he could not interfere with the wishes of a coalition partner, is not acceptable because the distribution of portfolios is the Prime Minister's prerogative.

Nellai Thirumalairajan, Chennai

It was shocking to hear Dr. Singh blame his inaction on coalition compulsions. It was more or less an admission of the charge that the UPA government does not mind compromising with its coalition partners to stay in power.

C.S. Sukhavanam, Coimbatore

While coalition politics has its limitations, it cannot be used as a shield to protect the wrongdoings of a government. There is no doubt about the ability of Dr. Singh to think ahead but he needs to look at the ground realities, get timely feedback and take corrective action. In the 2G issue, alarm was raised much before the licence was issued. But Dr. Singh chose to ignore it. Same was the case with the S-band.

Prem Kumar Gutty, Delhi

Dr. Singh's explanation on the 2G scam is not convincing. He has claimed that it was because of coalition dharma that he was unable to interfere with the re-induction of Mr. Raja. Does he propose to keep quiet for another three-and-a-half years even if he is not satisfied with his allies?

M.V. Balakrishnan, Chennai