Jaitley demands PM's resignation over 2G scam

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for 'failing to take action' against former telecom minister A Raja for over three years in connection with the spectrum scam.

Speaking at the massive rally organised by the National Democratic Front in Delhi, Jaitley ridiculed Dr Singh's offer to appear before the Parliamentary Accounts Committee.

"The PAC has a limited role. It can only go into the statistics and report of the CAG (comptroller and auditor general). The prime minister cannot claim that he has nothing to hide and offer to appear before PAC, which doesn't have the power to even summon ministers, leave alone ask the PM questions about his inaction. If he really wants to prove that he has nothing to hide, let him constitute the joint parliamentary committee and answer crucial questions in the 2G spectrum scam case," he said.

Jaitley also challenged the prime minister to answer key questions about the appointment of Raja as telecom minister and the government's inaction against him in the wake of the allegations of a multi-crore scam.

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also strongly defended the telecom policy adopted by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government during the National Democratic Alliance's rule.

"The Vajpayee government ended the monopoly of MTNL and BSNL and threw the gates open for the private operators. If India's tele-density today has crossed 60 per cent of the total network area then the credit for this goes to the NDA government headed by Vajpayee," said Jaitley.

Speaking on the controversial Niira Radia tapes, he said, "Earlier, we thought an extra-constitutional authority formed the cabinet. But we were proved wrong. Now we know that ministers were appointed at the behest of industrial houses, corporate lobbyists and others."