A question of choice

Vinod Rai, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) whose controversial reports on telecom licensing and coal block allocations proved a deep embarrassment to the United Progress Alliance government, appears to have few illusions about his role. At a function in Mumbai recently, somebody in the audience asked him about the perception that the government had made the wrong choice in appointing him the CAG. He couldn’t comment on that, he said, but added half-humorously, “I can assure you they will make a right choice in choosing a successor!”