'No basis for PM-Karunanidhi talks on Raja'

SEOUL, NEW DELHI: Top Indian officials on Thursday denied any basis for reports that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi from here on the 2G spectrum issue that rocked parliament for the second straight day.

The opposition on Thursday mounted more pressure on the government to act against Communications Minister A. Raja, a member of Karunanidhi's DMK, over his alleged role in the 2G spectrum scandal.

"No," the Prime Minister's media advisor, Harish Khare, told IANS here when asked if the Indian leader, here for the G20 Summit, had spoken with the DMK chief on what opposition claims is a Rs.1.76 trillion ($40 billion) scandal.

"The Prime Minister will say what he has to in Parliament. He does not discuss such matters when away from the country," said another senior official on condition of anonymity.

In New Delhi, Parliament was adjourned again on Thursday after opposition members continued to press for Raja"s ouster. These members disrupted business in the two houses for the second consecutive day.

The opposition toughened its position and sought Raja's ouster after a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which is believed to have indicted Raja, was submitted to the government.

The 2G spectrum, or radio waves, was sold to private telecom service firms in 2008 and the opposition says the price which the exchequer got was a fraction of what the legitimate amount should have been on account of an alleged scam. Earleir the government had told the Supreme Court in an affidavit that there was no lapses in 2G spectrum allocation.

Kanimozhi meets Pranab Mukherjee

Meanwhile, DMK MP Kanimozhi met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and is understood to have told him that the minister should not be removed.

Sources said Kanimozhi, the daughter of DMK chief M. Karunanidhi, explained to Mukherjee the party's position on the issue. The DMK is an ally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance.

The DMK has already come out in support of Raja and said that whatever he had done in allocation of 2G spectrum was according to the norms of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Sources said that Mukherjee also had a meeting with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on the issue. However, BJP leaders said later that the party was firm on its demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the telecom scam and removal of Raja.

The Congress made it clear Thursday that the party would leave the decision on Raja's continuation to the DMK.