The Hindu Business Line : Opposition parties want Raja to quit

New Delhi, Oct. 23 The Central Bureau of Investigation continued on Thursday its searches related to corruption charges against officials in the Department of Telecom for alleged irregularities in giving licences to private firms, the issue turned political with the Opposition parties demanding that the Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, should resign.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that the Minister cannot evade his responsibility and involvement in the matter when all his explanations for adopting the ‘first-come, first-served’ policy had proved baseless.

“In the interest of a fair probe, it is essential that the Minister must not continue in office. The CBI investigation into the allotment of 2G spectrum licences to some private is a long overdue step,” said a party statement.

The Bharatiya Janata Party also demanded that Mr Raja be sacked.

“There is no reason, moral, ethical or political, for Mr Raja to continue as minister,” the BJP spokesperson, Mr Ravi Shankar Prasad, said.

The Janata Party President, Dr Subramanian Swamy, demanded that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, give sanction to prosecute Mr Raja under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Mr Raja on Thursday had said that he will not resign as he had kept the Prime Minister informed about all his decisions.

Congress stand

The Congress indicated that it will not seek any action against the Minister. “Since the FIR names only officials, the question of propriety does not arise. The CBI has registered a case against some officials and the whole matter is still under investigation,” party spokesman Mr Manish Tewari told reporters.

Raids at 19 locations

Meanwhile, the CBI searched DoT offices across 19 locations in eight cities, including Chennai, Mumbai and Mohali. According to industry sources, the investigators also searched the premises of some private telecom firms. But this could not be confirmed.

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