The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had warned former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman Pradip Baijal of harm if he did not cooperate with the UPA government on 2G spectrum allocation issue, the latter has claimed in his book.
Baijal's "The Complete Story of Indian Reforms: 2G, Power and Private Enterprise - A Practitioner's Diary", which is the fourth book in the last couple of years blaming the UPA regime for one scam or the other, claims that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wanted him to "implicate" former telecommunication minister Arun Shourie and industrialist Ratan Tata in the case, PTI reported on Tuesday.
Baijal, who was appointed head of the telecom watchdog by the NDA government in 2003 and is also an accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case, said the wrongdoing started during the tenure of DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran as the telecom minister.
"They (CBI) had warned me in each case that I would be harmed if I didn't cooperate. Incidentally, this was exactly what the eminent economist Prime Minister had told me would happen if I did not cooperate in their scheme of things in the 2G case," PTI reported citing Baijal's book.
"I have said everything. It is 100 per cent correct and I have evidence to prove everything," Baijal told PTI.
Earlier, Manmohan Singh's media advisor Sanjaya Baru, former coal secretary PC Parekh and former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai have also written books on the irregularities in 2G spectrum allocation and coal blocks allocation, holding Manmohan Singh and his government responsible for the scams.
