I had informed PM about 2G telecom scam: Arun Shourie

NEW DELHI: Former Union Minister Arun Shourie has said he had informed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam but "he did nothing" about it.

After getting the relevant papers from journalists who wanted to expose the matter, Shourie said he prepared a note and took it to the gallery of the Rajya Sabha and showed it to the Prime Minister.

"I told Manmohan Singh to take a look at the papers, explained that there is massive corruption. You know it will explode," Shourie told Karan Thapar in Devil's Advocate programme on CNN-IBN.

Asked about the PM's reaction, Shourie gestured that Manmohan Singh touched his turban. "Which he always does. I said what can you do?"

He said the Prime Minister replied "what can be done. I told him you can do it. You send Nair to me, I'll explain him everything."

Asked whether Nair came to him, Shourie said no. "So, I went one step further. I told the Prime Minister that Nair is a senior officer and has worked with me and I will go to him and seek an appointment. I rang up, nothing happened. I waited for one month, then I went to Ashwini Kumar who is the Director of CBI whom I knew from previous times," said Shourie.

The former minister said even after all this, he was not given the appointment with Nair.

Asked whether Manmohan Singh stands very low in Shourie's estimation, the latter replied unfortunately, "Yes, a good man who has turned out to be a good for nothing man," Shourie said.

To a query about assessing the nine years of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister, Shourie said "well, he has been a person who has squandered his own reputation and is a person who has been completely been irresponsible in regard to the nature of the things that the country required."