Chidambaram as telecom EGOM head will be 'cruel joke': BJP

Reacting to reports that Home Minister P Chidambaram may be appointed as head of the Empowered Group of Ministers on telecom, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said, this is a "cruel joke" on the nation and goes against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's claim of maintaining a high level of integrity.

"There are reports about the likely appointment of Chidambaram as head of the EGOM on telecom. There has been no denial from the government. This flies in the face of the prime minister's statement that he maintains a high level of integrity," BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told the media in New Delhi.

He demanded that the prime minister should explain how this move to appoint Chidambaram goes in accordance with his claim.

"The prime minister had said in Parliament that the pricing of spectrum was decided after the meeting between the then telecom minister A Raja and Chidambaram," Prasad said.

Chidambaram had taken this decision on spectrum pricing at 2001-rate despite his officials advising him against this.

Prasad said that Raja has claimed that Chidambaram should also be questioned while some feel he should be made a co-accused. "How can Chidambaram be even remotely considered for EGOM and he should be a co-accused with Raja," Prasad asserted.

He described this as a "cruel joke" on the nation and alleged that the government has set aside constitutional propriety, Parliamentary accountability and political integrity.