'I am also against corruption': Ex Telecom Minister, A. Raja
Raja said he would prove his innocence once the 2G case was over in court
Ooty: “I, am too against corruption. Nobody likes corruption,” declared Mr A.Raja, the incumbent MP of Nilgiris (SC) Lok Sabha constituency, who has been re-nominated by the DMK to contest here, and began his election campaign here on Thursday.
Notwithstanding the 2G stigma, the DMK alliance cadres gathered at Charing Cross area and accorded him a rousing reception.
Mr Raja said he would prove his innocence once the 2G case was over in court. He said vested interests had besmirched both his reputation and the DMK’s along with those who had elected him in 2009 from the Nilgiris constituency. Now, the people should vote for him again to erase the blemish, he added.
None of the political parties in the country had the courage to find fault with the statement that he had submitted to the JPC on the 2G issue, he said. “In the trial court, the CBI has already made it clear that there is no case against me related to disproportionate wealth, Rs 1.76 lakh cores is an assumptive loss to the exchequer. The allegation against me in the 2G scam is totally wrong,” he added.
He told reporters that he still maintained that he had consulted the Prime Minister and finance minister before taking important decisions in allotting 2G spectrum. He said the 2G issue was initiated by a corporate cartel and fuelled by a section of the media. Had the Centre defended the case appropriately in court in the early stages, this issue would not have come into existence.
When asked whether he would accept that corruption was an issue in this election, he retorted, “Yes. Who will accept corruption?”
The so-called honest leaders were only targeting him on the corruption issue while remaining silent about other political leaders who were facing charges of corruption.
When pointed out that there were many corruption charges against the Congress-led UPA government, he said that he was not a competent person to comment on that. On his chances in the elections, he said he was hopeful of winning the elections and thereby erasing the 2G stigma against him.