Baijal on Manmohan Singh: Mixed response from parties

Former TRAI chief Pradip Baijal's allegation that the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had "warned" him to cooperate in the 2G case or suffer "harm" elicited mixed reactions from political parties on Tuesday.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said he was a bit surprised with the timing of the revelations, as it coincided with the completion of one year of the Narendra Modi government in office.

"I don't know what is the reality. The judiciary will take care. The JPC report is there in the public domain and it can be compared with what he said then and what he is saying now," he told reporters.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson M.J. Akbar said the former prime minister should explain "if he was protecting somebody? Was he protecting 2G dacoits on behalf of Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi?"

The Congress, on its part, said it appeared that "Baijal has found a new memory".

"I don't find it surprising... Baijal has found a new memory," party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.

"We don't want to reply to his allegations," Surjewala told media persons here.

Contending that Baijal was the person who introduced 'first come-first served' system of spectrum allocation, Surjewala said CBI has slapped fraud and cheating cases on Baijal.

"The case dates to the time when he was the disinvestment secretary and Arun Shourie was the disinvestment minister. Is Shourie next on the list," he asked.

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said: "This is a BJP-sponsored news".