The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded an explanation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over former Cabinet Secretary K. M, Chandrasekhar’s statement that the Government could have earned Rs 36,000 crore from entry fee for 2G applicants.
The BJP said the former Cabinet Secretary’s deposition before the Joint Parliamentary Committee had proved that the party’s demand for summoning the Prime Minister was right. Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the Prime Minister ignored the suggestion of the topmost bureaucrat in the Government. “Why is the Prime Minister quiet? The JPC will become meaningless unless the then Finance Minister and the Prime Minister don’t explain these developments,” she added.
She said there were suggestions before the Government to auction the spectrum. “The note was dated December 4, 2007 and was in response to a specific enquiry by the PM on the financial implication of the allocation of 2G in 2001 prices. He had also suggested auction where it was legally possible,” Sitharaman told a press conference here on Friday.
The BJP demanded the Government explain why it went ahead with 2001 prices and the ‘first-come-first-serve’ policy despite the considered views given by the then Cabinet Secretary.