Sonia Gandhi defends PM over telecoms scandal

NEW DELHI: India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday strongly defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against allegations he had failed to act over a massive telecom corruption scandal.

Gandhi, the key powerbroker of Indian politics, said Singh was above reproach in the controversy that the country's audit watchdog estimates costs the public treasury up to 40 billion dollars in lost revenues.

"It is shameful that a person of the integrity of the prime minister should be targeted in this manner," Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi. "Everyone knows the prime minister is 100 percent above board."

Singh is accused of failing to intervene when his telecoms minister sold second-generation (2G) mobile phone licences for a fraction of their value in 2008.

The scandal has engulfed Singh, whose popularity rests largely on his "Mr Clean" image, with some critics and opposition figures calling for his resignation.