Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Jul 25: Looks like former union telecommunication minister A Raja has used his last card to protect himself in the 2G scam. Realising that he does not have strong support from either the ruling UPA or his own party DMK, Raja has challenged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing the PM of being aware of the telecom deals with Swann and Unitech. The Prime Minister and the then finance minister P Chidambaram had passed the papers of the deal with their approval, he claimed.
"Let the PM say that he was not aware of the telecom deals of Unitech and Swan" Raja challenged in the court.
This could be a big blow to the ruling party at the centre, however, an accusation in the court alone may not trouble either the PM or Chidambaram at this juncture.
"The opposition may use this as a strong weapon in the upcoming parliament session, which is due to begin in the first week of August. But now all eyes are on the PMO as to what response the PM would give on Raja's statement," the political experts say.
The DMK, on learning about A Raja's statement in the court, immediately distanced itself from the statement, saying, "His version is not DMK party's statement, it is purely Raja's individual statement," said a party spokesperson in Chennai.
In the recently-concluded two-day DMK general meeting also, no resolution was passed in support of A Raja in the 2G scam, instead, the party had expressed concerns over Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and criticised CBI for her arrest.
Political analysts feel that A Raja has cleverly played his card in passing the buck to the PM and Chidambaram, and also pointing fingers at previous telecom ministers and the government.
It is not only the present PM and former FM that have been accused, but Raja even gave statements in the court on Monday about former telecom ministers like Arun Shourie and Pramod Mahajan.
"I have been following the policies of my predecessors, if I am guilty, then former telecoms ministers are also guilty and they too deserve jail," Raja said in his statement.
Though there has been no official response to A Raja's statement from the Prime Minister's Office, it is expected that the PMO might reject Raja's statement.