Congress, DMK set for image correction; BJP looks elsewhere

NEWDELHI:The acquittal of all the accused in the 2G spectrum case on Thursday came as a big relief to opposition Congress, which fielded its top guns to take on political adversaries who had used the scam to paint the thenUPA regime as corrupt.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he respected the judgement, which put “propaganda to rest”.

Former telecom minister Kapil Sibal, whose zero-loss remarks regarding 2G spectrum allocation had drawn flak, said Manmohan Singh and the UPA now stand vindicated.

He demanded an apology from Vinod Rai, the then comptroller and auditor general (CAG) whose report about a presumptive loss of ~1.76 lakh crore in the allocation of 2G spectrum had ignited a massive political controversy, leading to the ouster of the UPA government in 2014.

Just as the CAG’s conclusion had wide ramifications for the Indian polity, Thursday’s court verdict is also likely to have significant implications for major political players — in Tamil Nadu as also in national politics.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: The judgement is likely to give a big boost to the Dravidian party that was under attack from the AIADMK and other political adversaries for the alleged involvement of Kanimozhi, daughter of party chief Karunanidhi, and A Raja, the Dalit face of the party who was the then Union telecom minister.

Congress: Like the Bofors scandal that haunted the grand old party for decades, the alleged 2G scam had given a handle to BJP and other adversaries.

Thursday’s acquittal could give the Congress an opportunity to project itself as a victim of political propaganda in other cases of alleged omissions and commissions by Congress leaders, too. Bharatiya Janata Party:

The BJP remained unrelenting on Thursday as it sought to put up a brave front and play down the significance of the court ruling, arguing that the UPA’s policy was flawed as was clear from the Supreme Court cancelling the 122 licences in 2012. Its grandstanding apart, the verdict is likely to take the sting out of BJP’s ‘corruption’ attack on Congress.

With a host of cases still pending against Congress leaders, the saffron party has reasons to hope.