Cong says lies exposed; don’t gloat, warns BJP

It was the 2G case, but, for once, the boot was on the other foot. Soon after a special court acquitted all accused in the so-called 2G scam, the Congress fielded its top guns to attack the BJP for its “massive propaganda” and “lies” on the issue.

The BJP, though, which has successfully used the scam to portray the Congress as a corrupt party, refused to be cowed and said the latter should not treat the verdict as a “badge of honour”.

The Congress demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley.

The Congress Working Committee will meet on Friday to deliberate over the party’s strategy after the court ruling. This will be the first CWC meeting chaired by Rahul Gandhi as Congress president.

The scam sullied the image of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and contributed, in part, to its eventual downfall in 2014.

Leading the party’s charge, former PM Manmohan Singh said the judgment needs to be respected and has “pronounced that massive propaganda” unleashed against his government was without foundation. “I do not want to boast (about) anything… verdict speaks for itself.”

Jaitley, who had spearheaded the BJP’s campaign inside Parliament on the matter, said the “zero loss theory” of Congress was demolished when the SC in 2012 quashed the spectrum allocation.