Manmohan Singh defends himself after allegations in 2G scam

Under attack over allegations in 2G scam, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asserted that he had "never used" public office to "enrich" himself, his family or friends.
"As far as I am concerned, I can say in all humility that I have not used my public office to enrich myself, to enrich my family or to enrich my friends.
"And still the BJP government keeps on harping on this theme of corruption just because it wants to distract the attention of the people to non-issues," he said in an uncharacteristic hard-hitting speech at a convention organised by Congress' student wing NSUI here.

Singh's statement came in the backdrop of former TRAI chairman Pradip Baijal's allegations that Singh had warned him of harm if he did not cooperate on 2G telecom licenses.
Baijal, who was probed for several years in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, also claimed that the CBI wanted him to "implicate" Arun Shourie and Ratan Tata in the case.
Latching onto the issue, BJP Ministers had called the Singh-led UPA government a "coalition in corruption".

Speaking at the event here, Singh also stoutly defended the performance of the two UPA governments under him while also lauding Rahul Gandhi saying that he has been very active both in and outside Parliament.

"There is a new life in the Congress after the election reverses in 2014. Our Vice President Rahul Gandhi is also very active and vocal both in Parliament and outside Parliament. We must sustain the momentum," Singh said.
Lauding the NSUI workers for there "timely" agitation on the land acquisition law amendment, Singh said the youth have to play a key role now.
Singh said the two-fold task is to "expose" the failures of the Modi government and highlight the achievements of the UPA regime.