Why is everyone focusing on Telecom Minister A. Raja,asked the department of telecommunications plaintively in the Supreme Court. After all,he was only implementing the 1999 telecom policy the NDA government had brought in. And,it added,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh knew all about it,he was kept fully informed of all decisions and supported them,since there was no difference of opinion between the telecom minister and the prime minister. This wording,in an affidavit in response to a public interest liti-gation in the Supreme Court demanding to know why the CBI is acting slowly in investigating Raja,reveals the degree to which the taint thats now indelibly associated with this minister can spread. The argument that its merely a question of the compulsions of a coalition is not going to hold water for much longer. People understand the political grouping that is a coalition,the restrictions it creates; but they also understand the executive grouping that is a cabinet,and the responsibility that it makes collective.The telecom ministry has made it clear in its affidavit,in other words,its objection to a narrative in which the government has failed to realise a large amount of money because of a dubious set of decisions,which deserve investigation but are primarily the fault of one man. Its SC affidavit is not the document of a minister and a ministry confident in their isolation it is,instead,a fairly blatant attempt to spread culpability and thus escape consequences. The Congress will have to take a call pretty soon: is this a strategy that they wish to allow to take root? Or is it time to push Raja out?It is no longer the case that the only politically risky course is to take action against Raja. The political risks are,indeed,adding up on the other side of the ledger the longer the Congress allows Rajas ministry to throw mud at the rest of the government,the more of that mud will stick. There are some things,as the prime minister knows,its worth staking your government on. The greatest asset to the UPA over its term has been the image that its PM is above the fray,however problematic some of the governments other members. The unwillingness to respect in this case the value of that principle is mystifying.
