Government likely to make statement in Parliament today

With pressure building on the Centre to drop Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja from the Cabinet over the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the government is likely to make a statement in Parliament on Monday.

An indication came after a meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had with Congress president Sonia Gandhi here on Sunday to discuss the issue. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was present at the meeting along with Ms. Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel, told journalists that since Parliament was in session, whatever had to be said on the Telecom Minister would be said in the House.

Parliament appears set for more stormy scenes on Monday, with the Opposition united on its demand for the dismissal of Mr. Raja. It has been demanding his removal after the Comptroller and Auditor-General is said to have indicted the Minister for not allotting the 2G spectrum in a transparent manner, causing the exchequer a loss of over Rs. 1.40 lakh crore. There is also a demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has already threatened to continue stalling the parliamentary proceedings if Mr. Raja is not removed, while the Left has been demanding a statement from the government.

“As head of the government, it is for the Prime Minister to take the final call on the matter. The matter will definitely be raised in Parliament once again,” Communist Party of India MP D. Raja told The Hindu.

“The Minister's continuation in the Cabinet has become untenable now, with the Comptroller and Auditor-General's report, and the revelations made by the former Telecom Secretary that rules were flouted in the [spectrum] allotment,” Mr. Raja said.

However, the Minister has ruled out his resignation, saying he had done everything as per the procedures established by his predecessors, and he had put the Prime Minister's Office in the loop at every stage of the spectrum allocation. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M. Karunanidhi has defended Mr. Raja, saying he is “not guilty.”

Meanwhile, the non-United Progressive Alliance and non-National Democratic Alliance parties will meet on Monday to evolve a “common strategy” to tackle “rampant corruption.”

The meeting of the “like-minded” people has been convened by the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, H.D. Deve Gowda, at his residence here on Monday evening to discuss the “issue of corruption worth several crores of rupees that has engulfed all institutions of the state” and was “undermining the democratic values of the country.”