A friendly pat from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the shoulder of former Telecom Minister A Raja under scanner for his dubious role in the cheap allocation of 2G spectrum made the BJP see red on Tuesday as leaders believe it was an inappropriate gesture,particularly when the Supreme Court is hearing the spectrum scam. BJP leaders believe the Prime Minister's pat has sent all the wrong signals to the political class as well as the people since Raja is looking down the Opposition barrel on the 2G issue. The Prime Minister was attending a DMK programme to pay homage to former Union minister Murosali Maran on his seventh death anniversary when he bumped into Raja. Raja,who was standing along with other DMK leaders,greeted the Prime Minister in the DMK party office in Parliament House when Singh arrived. Singh patted him on his shoulder before leaving the venue. The function was attended among others by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Pranab Mukherjee. DMK party leader T R Baalu and his colleagues from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,besides several Congress MPs also paid homage to Maran,who served as commerce minister in the Vajpayee government. BJP was quick to respond to Singh's gesture saying it sent a wrong signal at a time when the spectrum case was being heard by the apex court. "At such a time,the Prime Minister patting Raja's back at a public event would appear like a message in itself to the people and does not look good," a leader said. But the Congress was dismissive of the BJP's criticism. "Personal relationship and emotions do not work on switch-off,switch-on mode. Raja has worked under the Prime Minister for six years. He is a senior MP of an ally,DMK. I do not think,he (PM) has done anything wrong," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told reporters. He went on to add,"Of course the CAG has raised an issue and submitted its report to Parliament. But that is a separate issue," he said. Raja,who struck a defiant note for several days,was forced to resign on November 14 in the wake of the government auditor's report that there was a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer at the rates spectrum was allocated. Parliament was stalled over the spectrum controversy for the eighth consecutive day today with the Opposition unrelenting on its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe and the government refusing to give in.
