With the Supreme Court cancelling 122 telecom licences, the principal Opposition party, the BJP, is getting ready to step up its attack on the Congress in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll campaign. This could also reflect on the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.
Reacting to the apex court's judgment, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Chief Spokesperson of BJP, said, “We will definitely pose questions for Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi in the UP campaign.”
The BJP raised questions on the credibility, transparency and integrity of the UPA Government and demanded the resignation of the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, for his alleged role in the scam. It said after the order, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, “cannot escape” political responsibility as head of the Government.
Terming the 2G scam as the biggest corruption scam since Independence, Mr Prasad said, “The Prime Minister gave a certificate of innocence to Mr A. Raja inside and outside Parliament… The credibility of the Government's decision-making process stands shattered.”
The CPI (M) said the Supreme Court order was a “strong indictment” of the Government and asked the Prime Minister to take a call on its fall-out as it has exposed the “bluff” on the UPA-II's claims. It demanded the resignation of the Telecom Minister, Mr Kapil Sibal, for his ‘zero loss' claim.
BUDGET SESSION
All eyes are now on the Budget session. While the BJP said that its Parliamentary Party would finalise its strategy, it was clear about making this the most important issue.
Anticipating trouble, Mr Sibal appealed to the BJP to think of the nation first, then politics.
“We will reach out to them and see that important legislations are passed during the session,” he said.