Corruption issue, CAG's 2G figures were highly exaggerated before 2014 Lok Sabha polls: Sonia Gandhi
PTI|
Updated: Mar 09, 2018, 05.32 PM IST
Corruption was a "highly exaggerated" issue in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi said here today.
She added that the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) loss figures in the 2G spectrum allocation case were also "highly exaggerated".
"Corruption was an issue (in the 2014 polls), but it was highly exaggerated. In the case of 2G for instance...the CAG came out with a humongous amount of money. I think everyone now realises that it was highly exaggerated. The person in-charge has now been given a cushy job," Gandhi said, in an apparent reference to former CAG Vinod Rai, who now heads the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that runs the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The former Congress chief was speaking at a question-and-answer session with India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie at the India Today Conclave here.
In December last year, a special court acquitted former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the politically-sensitive 2G spectrum allocation scam cases, holding that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove the charges. The alleged scam had rocked the erstwhile UPA government.
Rai had said in the CAG report that the grant of 122 2G licences had caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer.
Asked if someone, who was not from the Gandhi family, could head the Congress in the future, Gandhi said, "Why not?...Could be, in the future. It is a very tough question. There are many Congressmen present here. You can ask them."
She also said the Congress needed to adopt new styles to project its policies and programmes before the people.
She added that the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) loss figures in the 2G spectrum allocation case were also "highly exaggerated".
"Corruption was an issue (in the 2014 polls), but it was highly exaggerated. In the case of 2G for instance...the CAG came out with a humongous amount of money. I think everyone now realises that it was highly exaggerated. The person in-charge has now been given a cushy job," Gandhi said, in an apparent reference to former CAG Vinod Rai, who now heads the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that runs the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The former Congress chief was speaking at a question-and-answer session with India Today Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie at the India Today Conclave here.
In December last year, a special court acquitted former telecom minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and others in the politically-sensitive 2G spectrum allocation scam cases, holding that the prosecution had "miserably failed" to prove the charges. The alleged scam had rocked the erstwhile UPA government.
Rai had said in the CAG report that the grant of 122 2G licences had caused a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the state exchequer.
Asked if someone, who was not from the Gandhi family, could head the Congress in the future, Gandhi said, "Why not?...Could be, in the future. It is a very tough question. There are many Congressmen present here. You can ask them."
She also said the Congress needed to adopt new styles to project its policies and programmes before the people.
