Prime Minister was kept in loop on the allocation of 2G spectrum: A Raja

NEW DELHI: Former telecom minister A Raja has countered the draft report of the joint parliamentary committee which said that he misled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the allocation of 2G spectrum.

In a sharply-worded 112-page submission to JPC on Monday, Raja claimed that he had discussed the controversial first-come-first-served policy with Singh and had kept him informed at every step. “I reiterate my position that there was no deviation in the procedure and complete transparency was maintained. If at all, only the decision to issue LoIs (letters of intent) simultaneously can be regarded as a new procedure, but even for this, there was precedent and the need for simultaneous issuance was properly documented and transparently disclosed to the honourable PM,” Raja’s submission said.

After being denied the request to depose before the committee by JPC chairman PC Chacko, Raja tried to counter the draft report which has blamed Raja, apart from the NDA government, for the 2G scam. “The honourable PM was fully aware of all these matters. The DoT issued LoIs only after I obtained the honourable PM’s concurrence when I met him in January 2008. Similarly, spectrum was allocated only after I had the concurrence of the honourable PM and finance minister.”

Raja also said that in 2009, Singh reappointed Raja telecom minister. “Surely, if he felt that I had misled him or offended him in any manner, my reappointment would not have happened,” Raja said. Singh has in the past attributed this to ‘coalition compulsions,’ to suggest Raja was DMK’s choice. The former telecom minister devoted an entire chapter on the FCFS policy in his submission. He claimed that he personally informed PM through letters and meetings about all policy decisions. He hinted that Singh wanted to maintain a distance from the process despite being involved.