December 15, 2024 02:08 (IST)
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Manmohan defends himself, attacks Modi Govt
New Delhi, May 27 (IBNS) A day after former TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal accused Manmohan Singh of permissiveness in the 2G scam, the former Prime Minister on Wednesday defended himself saying he never used his office to enrich himself or his family.
Singh, who has been under intense attacks from the BJP on issues relating to alleged corruption, including 2G and coal block allocation scams during the UPA regime also launched a frontal attack against the ruling party, saying it was harping on corruption to divert people's attention to non-issues.
“As far as I am concerned, I can say in all humility that I have not used my public office to enrich myself, to enrich my family or my friends. And still the BJP government keeps on harping on this theme of corruption because it wants to distract the attention of the people to non-issues,” he said while speaking at a function.
On Tuesday,Pradip Baijal, former chief of Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) said Singh had asked him not to obstruct policies that were being implemented to allow a massive scam in the allocation of mobile network licenses in 2009.
Baijal told NDTV that Singh knew the ground for the swindle was being laid by former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. When Baijal warned against Maran's first-come-first-serve policy for licenses, the PM allegedly replied, "Why are you not cooperating with the minister?"
The first-come-first-serve policy cost the country Rs. 1.76 lakh crore, according to the national auditor.
The scam led to Maran's successor, former Telecom Minister A Raja, being charged with criminal conspiracy and corruption, along with executive of top telecoms.
Baijal himself was probed in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
His accusation provided the BJP fresh fodder to attack Singh. "I accept the PM was not corrupt, but it was his job to ensure the same of his ministers," said BJP chief Amit Shah.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he knew that Baijal had been harassed.
"He has been unfairly targeted by UPA. He was targeted and harassed. He met me after retirement and I was aware about the harassment inflicted upon him," Jaitley said.
As the BJP has been relentless in its criticism of the previous Congress-led Government on matters ranging from economy to governance, Singh hit back with scathing words, uncommon for his soft disposition.
"This doesn't surprise us. This is a compliment the BJP government could pay to the constructive tasks of the UPA government," he said.
Asserting that it was "totally untrue" that there was a policy paralysis during the UPA regime, the former PM alleged that in the last one year the BJP Government had to "manufacture and modify some statistics" to show that its one year in power has not been bad for the economy.
"The BJP's own people are of the view with this economic recovery is very fragile, and if you look at the harsh realities, you will see all is not well with the health of the economy under the BJP dispensation," he said.
“As far as I am concerned, I can say in all humility that I have not used my public office to enrich myself, to enrich my family or my friends. And still the BJP government keeps on harping on this theme of corruption because it wants to distract the attention of the people to non-issues,” he said while speaking at a function.
On Tuesday,Pradip Baijal, former chief of Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) said Singh had asked him not to obstruct policies that were being implemented to allow a massive scam in the allocation of mobile network licenses in 2009.
Baijal told NDTV that Singh knew the ground for the swindle was being laid by former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran. When Baijal warned against Maran's first-come-first-serve policy for licenses, the PM allegedly replied, "Why are you not cooperating with the minister?"
The first-come-first-serve policy cost the country Rs. 1.76 lakh crore, according to the national auditor.
The scam led to Maran's successor, former Telecom Minister A Raja, being charged with criminal conspiracy and corruption, along with executive of top telecoms.
Baijal himself was probed in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam.
His accusation provided the BJP fresh fodder to attack Singh. "I accept the PM was not corrupt, but it was his job to ensure the same of his ministers," said BJP chief Amit Shah.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he knew that Baijal had been harassed.
"He has been unfairly targeted by UPA. He was targeted and harassed. He met me after retirement and I was aware about the harassment inflicted upon him," Jaitley said.
As the BJP has been relentless in its criticism of the previous Congress-led Government on matters ranging from economy to governance, Singh hit back with scathing words, uncommon for his soft disposition.
"This doesn't surprise us. This is a compliment the BJP government could pay to the constructive tasks of the UPA government," he said.
Asserting that it was "totally untrue" that there was a policy paralysis during the UPA regime, the former PM alleged that in the last one year the BJP Government had to "manufacture and modify some statistics" to show that its one year in power has not been bad for the economy.
"The BJP's own people are of the view with this economic recovery is very fragile, and if you look at the harsh realities, you will see all is not well with the health of the economy under the BJP dispensation," he said.
Singh alleged that in the name of promoting faster economy institutions of democracy were being undermined under the present dispensation.
“Institutions of democracy are under threat. The entire edifice of the welfare state is now being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth, whereas they are two sides of the same coin,” he said
Asserting that many of UPA’s programmes were being repackaged as initiatives of the BJP government, he said, “What the BJP had opposed when we were in power are now being sold as its contribution”.
In his words: "the past is continuously being re-written to promote a highly biased and communal view of history."
"I want to assure you that we have been fighting corruption, we will continue to fight corruption and there will be no compromise,"Singh said.
Asserting that many of UPA’s programmes were being repackaged as initiatives of the BJP government, he said, “What the BJP had opposed when we were in power are now being sold as its contribution”.
In his words: "the past is continuously being re-written to promote a highly biased and communal view of history."
"I want to assure you that we have been fighting corruption, we will continue to fight corruption and there will be no compromise,"Singh said.
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