Belated action

CBI has taken belated action against former telecom Minister A Raza by arresting him and two of his close aids in 2G Spectrum case. Manmohan Singh government has failed to act on time. Because the 2G Spectrum Scam broke out in 2008 and Prime Minister did not take cognigance of the matter.It is the media and public outcry that compelled the government to act against the persons involved in 2G Spectrum scam.Raja's arrest has been rightly described by the opposition as too little and too late.

Manmohan Singh UPA government has been rocked by corruption in the last 6 months and it has dented its image very badly. There is deadlock in Parliament over the opposition demand of JPC probe into scam, which the government has been consistently refusing. Winter Session has already been washed away and the issue of JPC stands as it was.Budget Session is to begin from the third week of this month.

To lighten the opposition attack and create an atmoshphere among the public that government is in no mood to tolerate corruption, CBI has been given go ahead signal to arrest the 2G Scam accused Ex-telecom minister and his two aids but the CBI has done nothing against the private companies reportedly involved in it.

Raja has been charged with favouritism and corrupt practices in allotting 2G Spectrum licences to private Companies. The CBI is silent on what it is doing against them. Nira Radia, PRO Consultant and lobbyist, has been reported to have close connection with the former minister and she played pivotal role in deciding the mechanism and bending the law to allot licences in favour of her client companies. It has also been reportedly alleged that Nira Radia played extra-constitutional role in formation of the Manmhan Singh Council of Ministers and deciding the allocation of portfolios, which is the prerogative of the Prime Minister.This necessiates JPC to probe into 2G Scam.

Former telecom minister A Raja was in the ministry from DMK quota in the UPA. And this is the main reason that delayed the action against the minister due to coalition compulsion. Raja is a Dalit face of DMK in Tamil Nadu, where assembly election is to be held in few months. That is why DMK has backed him. Throwing its weight behind A Raja, the DMK on Thursday said his arrest does not prove his guilt in the 2G spectrum scam and accused opposition parties of targeting him to "malign" the party. As is the saying late comer must suffer, so the nation has already suffered a loss of Rs.1.76 lakhs in 2 G Scam.