CM Ashok Gehlot said just a few months ago, ex-CAG Vinod Rai apologised in writing to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam in a defamation case on his claim
JAIPUR: Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed former Controller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai for the defeat of the UPA government in 2014. He said due to Rai’s statement on the 2G spectrum and coal scam, an atmosphere was created against the UPA in the country.
Gehlot said, “Rai, who was not a chartered accountant but a bureaucrat, was the CAG. He had said there was a scam of Rs 1.76 lakh crore scam in the allocation of spectrum. Just a few months ago, he apologised in writing to Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam in a defamation case on his claim.”
“If people in position make irresponsible statements, what to do?,” Gehlot said. He was speaking at a function of Indian Chartered Accountants Association(ICAI) here on Saturday.
Gehlot added, “The mere claim of Vinod Rai created a wave against the UPA government . It was an unsubstantiated charge, but once the country accepted that Rai was right and there was corruption of Rs 1.76 lakh crore in spectrum allocation, people believed it. ”
“What I mean to say by this incident is that even today how much is the credibility of a chartered accountant in society. This credibility has to be increased. Once the CA says something, people believe it,” he said.
Gehlot claimed that the UPA government had done a great job during its tenure. For the first time, a rights-based era was ushered in. Laws and schemes like RTI, RTE, food security, NREGA were given as rights. It was no small achievement, he added. A person like Dr Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, who had a different kind of aura in the world. “Rai’s statement of Rs 1.76 lakh crore scam was false, but it changed the atmosphere,” he chief minister said.
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