May 26, 2015
New Delhi: Yet another book has come out damming the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal alleging that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had warned him of harm if he did not cooperate on 2G telecom licenses.
A file photo of Manmohan Singh.
May 26, 2015
New Delhi: Yet another book has come out damming the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government with former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal alleging that the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had warned him of harm if he did not cooperate on 2G telecom licenses.
A file photo of Manmohan Singh.
An accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, he also claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wanted him to “implicate” Arun Shourie and Ratan Tata in the case.
In his self-published book, The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise—A Practitioner’s Diary, Baijal, who was appointed head of the telecom watchdog by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 2003, said the 2G scam trail began under UPA’s telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran regime.
“They (CBI) had warned me in each case that I would be harmed if I didn’t cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the eminent economist Prime Minister had told me would happen if I did not cooperate in their scheme of things in the 2G case,” Baijal writes in an apparent reference to 2G case and disinvestment issues.
There were no immediate comments available from the former Prime Minister, while Baijal told PTI.
“I have said everything. It is 100% correct and I have evidence to prove everything.” This is the third book in last more than a year that has come to haunt Singh and his government about state of affairs during his regime.
The first book was written by his aide and media advisor Sanjaya Baru and later by former coal secretary P.C. Parekh who is also an accused in the case relating to coal blocks allocation.
Courtesy: PTI
