If there was no scam in 2G allocations, the UPA government was unfairly tarnished

It is difficult to understand why the Congress and its allies are taking pride and treating the verdict in the 2G spectrum case as a “badge of honour”. The special CBI court may have acquitted the accused UPA leaders of the charges, but the bigger questions on the policy adopted previously still need to be answered. We must not forget the Supreme Court’s ruling in February 2012. We must resolve and understand that the policy intended was to promote corruption. It was arbitrary, and all these allegations have already been upheld by the SC. Therefore, the judgment in the case does not imply the Congress and its leaders to be innocent. In fact, it is no proof of the Congress- led UPA government’s innocence.

The 2G spectrum allocation by the UPA government was completely a dishonest and corrupt policy. This was not the reading of the BJP but that of the SC. In February 2012, the SC cancelled almost 122 licences awarded in the year 2008 for a paltry ` 9,200 crores by the then UPA government “virtually” led by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The SC gave a ruling that these licences and subsequently, all natural resources should be allocated through auctions — a fair bidding process alone.

The SC in 2012 had come down heavily on the UPA government’s spectrum allocation policy. It went across and said that the first come, first served 2G policy was arbitrary and corrupt. It had ordered the government to change the policy to an auction- based one. The spectrum policy of the UPA government allegedly favoured a handful of bidders. The favourites were informed before the policy was tweaked. This was evident because the subsequent auctions got a much higher price than the previous bids. Hence, we can clearly say that the poor policy caused a loss.

Interestingly, the 2G spectrum allocation scam was unveiled by none other than the then CAG. A report by the CAG revealed that 2G or second generation licence for mobile networks were given at throwaway prices instead of carrying free and fair auctions. The report had said that the spectrum allocation scam caused the national exchequer a loss of ` 1.76 lakh crores. The CAG report had said that all the demand drafts were actually backdated, thereby implying that the telecom operators had prior knowledge of licences that were to be issued.

The accused ministers and leaders, who are celebrating their acquittal, must be reminded that in the year 2012, the SC imposed a fine of ` 5 crores each on the telecom companies and further said that A. Raja “wanted to favour some companies at the cost of the public exchequer and virtually gifted away important natural assets”. How well do you spell favouritism and corruption than this?

It is unfortunate that even after such grave revelations, the Congress and other accused ministers of the allied parties find this judgment a “reward of honesty”. The leaders not just have to prove themselves innocent in the court of law but are also answerable and accountable to the people at large. India is one of the largest democracies in the world. Unfortunately, it has been looted and exploited badly time and again by various foreign invaders, the British, followed by the Congress in the last 60 years of its governance. Since 2014, the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has delivered a transparent, honest and progressive government. We respect the judgment of the court, but wish to repeat that the Congress must not take this as a proof of its innocence. We can assure that corruption will be tackled and nailed with no exceptions. Unlike our predecessors, we are sensitive and answerable to the people at large for every rupee we spend for the people’s welfare. We hope that the investigative agencies will take a close look at the judgment and decide what has to be done next.

The writer is the BJP’s national media in- charge and spokesperson ( youth wing)