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Soni Mishra
Soni Mishra

SPECTRUM CASE

2G case verdict sparks Congress-BJP slugfest

PTI12_21_2017_000019B Congress leader Kapil Sibal addresses the media on 2G case verdict outside the Parliament House in New Delhi | PTI

A special CBI court's verdict in the 2G spectrum case, acquitting all the 18 accused, including DMK leaders A. Raja and M.K. Kanimozhi, reverberated politically, with the Congress claiming vindication of its stand that there was no loss involved in allocation of spectrum and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of having conspired to besmirch the image of the UPA government, whereas the BJP hit back by insisting that the UPA's policy in the matter was corrupt, as stated by the Supreme Court.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who bore the brunt of the corruption allegations against his government and was described by his critics and political opponents as being an ineffective premier, said the court verdict had made clear that a massive propaganda was run against his government.

Manmohan, who had earlier said that he expects history to treat him kindly, told reporters in Parliament House, “I am glad that the court has pronounced unambiguosly that all this massive propaganda that was being done against the UPA was without any foundation.”

His party colleagues spoke of a vindication of the party's stand that there was zero loss in allocation of spectrum. Former Union minister Kapil Sibal said: “I have been proven right. There was no corruption, no loss. If there was a scam, it was a scam of lies put together by the opposition (BJP) and Vinod Rai (then CAG).”

“We are reminded of the years when there was a vicious and malicious campaign run targeting the then UPA government and also besmirching the image of the then Prime Minister,” said senior Congress leader Anand Sharma.

The BJP hit back saying the 2G allocation policy of the UPA was corrupt. “It was a dishonest policy, and this has been upheld by the Supreme Court,” said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

“Congress leaders are treating this judgment as some kind of a badge of honour and a certification,” he said.

Asked if there would be an appeal to a higher court in the case, Jaitley said the investigators will decide on it. However, it is learnt that the Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to go into appeal in the case.

The Congress would hope that the court order will help clear the 2G taint, which the Manmohan Singh government could not get rid of. The party carried the burden of the 2G scam, with the CAG having pegged a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the nation on account of the manner in which the spectrum was allocated. The alleged scam was seen as one of the main reasons for the party losing in the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. It was also one of the main constituents of the anti-corruption campaign of Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal, that pushed the UPA government to the wall.

Congress leaders demanded an apology from the BJP, confident that the party will not be able to attack with the 2G case anymore. The Congress is expected to carry out a campaign on the issue, accusing the BJP of conspiring to attach the 2G taint to the Manmohan Singh government, and asking Modi what he was doing about allegations of corruption against him and his government.

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Topics : #2Gscam

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