On Tuesday, A Raja, the former Telecom Minister, is set to appear in court for the second time, the question on everybody's mind is who the 2G kingpin will name next.A Raja's defence on Monday (July 25) in the 2G spectrum scam becomes a nightmare for the UPA government. Dragging in the Prime Minister and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, he also pointed fingers at the NDA regime.
In a special Delhi court yesterday, Raja for the first time presented his side of the story. Raja claimed innocence and said, "I have implemented only what I have inherited. Unless any of the charges against me are proved I'm innocent as are all others sitting in this court room."
Sparing no one in his defence in court, Raja dragged the PM and the then finance minister P Chidambaram into the 2G spectrum allocation mess. He claimed, "Finance Min P Chidambaram approved the sale of spectrum stake by Unitech & DB Realty in the presence of the PM. Let the Prime Minister deny it."
In court, Raja also named former telecom minister Arun Shourie and partyman Dayanidhi Maran stating, "As Telecom Minster Arun Shourie distributed 26 licenses while Dayanidhi Maran distributed 25 and I distributed 122 licenses. Numbers make no difference, however, it is to be noted that none of them auctioned the spectrum."
Raja had also blamed the Telecom Cartels and the CBI. He claimed that, "CBI is dishonest with the court. They took my custody for Loop Telecom after making a statement before the court that the probe with respect to me is completed."
Also pointing fingers at the NDA regime Raja had added, "If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former Telecom Ministers since 1993 should also be jail with me. If I had auctioned spectrum, that would have been a crime, as it was a Union Cabinet decision."
In his defence, Raja has so far said that he was not alone in the scam and everyone right from the PMO was in the know how. After the 2G kingpin's charges, a vicious circle of politics followed. For now, the PMO is mum to what was Raja's desperate attempt. With Raja due in court again today, the government, the opposition and the media will watch closely at his next move.