PC would be in jail had there been Jan Lokpal: Hazare

Amid the fresh controversy in the 2G spectrum case, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Friday said Home Minister P Chidambaram would have been behind bars had the Jan Lokpal legislation been in existence.

"Had there been a Jan Lokpal now, Chidambaram would have been in jail," Hazare, who earlier branded the Union home minister as a "mischievous person", said.

Chidambaram would have to "go home" in the 2G scam, Hazare said at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra.

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"Chidambaram is 'khodsal' (a Marathi word which means a mischievous or a dishonest person)," the Gandhian had alleged soon after returning to his village this month while giving an account of his arrest and release in Delhi ahead of his fast on Jan Lokpal issue.

Chidambaram is facing heat from a united opposition which has pressed for his resignation and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe over his stand in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation after a finance ministry note to the Prime Minister's office was submitted to the Supreme Court by Janata party leader Subramanian Swamy.

The note suggested that the 2G scam could have been averted if the finance ministry, then under Chidambaram, had insisted on spectrum allocation through auction.

The government and Congress have stoutly defended Chidambaram asserting that his integrity is not in doubt and there is no question mark over his conduct.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to clarify his stand on the alleged involvement of P Chidambaram in 2G spectrum case and wondered if the latter is not being sacked as PMO fears the "embers of the fire" may reach it.

Reiterating its demand for the resignation of Chidambaram, BJP wanted to know at whose behest was the much-publicised note by the finance ministry prepared?

"At whose instance did the finance ministry prepare the note for the PMO?... The country is certainly entitled to know if the PMO had asked for the note. If yes, why was there no follow-up action?" BJP chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

BJP alleged that even in the case of former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is now in jail in connection with 2G scam case, the prime minister had initially said twice that he is not guilty.

"Is the same story going to repeat itself in the case of P Chidambaram?" Prasad said. "Skeletons are fighting skeletons and rocking the boat of UPA. How long will you keep quiet, Mr Prime Minister?" Prasad said.

He said the government cannot get away by saying this new development is also due to coalition politics as the "expose" has come from the finance ministry of Pranab Mukherjee who is no 2 in the cabinet.