sale! sale! sale! yes, The greatest democracy of the world, the Indian democracy is available for sale. Is anyone to buy the same. Offer is for limited time.
Yes, our democracy is for sale. our great seculars are selling our democracy.
readIndia, the republic, is now on sale. Participating in the auction is a group of powerful individuals, corporate houses, lobbyists, bureaucrats and journalists. Just before the 2G spectrum allocation scam became breaking news,
the Income-Tax department was busy tapping the phones of Niira Radia, a lobbyist whose clients, the Tatas and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd, have interests in several key sectors such as telecom, petroleum and natural gas.
Radia’s conversations show how even cabinet berths can be decided by this select oligarchy. Her interface with discredited (now former) telecom minister A. Raja, DMK mp Kanimozhi and Ranjan Bhattacharya, the foster son-in-law of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, shows how she successfully lobbied for several cabinet berths. The transcripts suggest that journalists Vir Sanghvi and Barkha Dutt also lobbied for Raja with the Congress party. However, both journalists, in separate statements, decried the use of the label “lobbyist” and termed their conversation with Radia as part of their normal journalistic duties. Other journalists such as Prabhu Chawla, G. Ganapathy Subramaniam and M.K. Venu also had elaborate conversations with Radia on issues ranging from telecom to the Ambani brothers’ dispute on gas pricing. At times they proffer advice and trade information.
The more than 104 conversations involving Radia that were tapped by the I-T department expose a systemic rot. These tapes are now annexures in a Supreme Court petition by lawyer Prashant Bhushan seeking Raja’s prosecution.
The reaction of the Congress leadership is surprising since all these tapes were available to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambaram in their capacity as finance ministers in the two UPA governments. Regardless of the existence of the tapes, the Congress leadership agreed to reinduct Raja with the telecom portfolio into the UPA-II cabinet.
The tapes also paint a dismal picture of how everything—from cabinet berths to natural resources—is now available for the right price. The now controversial 2G allocation was just one of the many manipulations orchestrated by players in high places. There are conversations on civil aviation with 1980-batch IAS officer Sunil Arora, publicist Suhel Seth and many others which have not been included here. The worst fallout, however, is that it has besmirched the hitherto ‘fair’ name of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who agreed to take Raja back in the same ministry that now stands exposed in the biggest scam in independent India, despite knowledge of the tapes.
Niira Bhajan
“When it came to spectrum, they went to Raja and paid him a bribe and got spectrum allocated.”
“Uddhav’s already taken funding from both groups. I’d suggest, tell Krishna Kumar to talk to Uddhav.”
“Otherwise I will tell them to tell Uddhav to go after them. I don’t think Congress will do much.”
“I believe Maran has given about 600 crores to Dayalu, Stalin’s mother.”
Mere client Tatas bhi bahut beneficiary thhe (in the 2G spectrum allocation).”
“Senthil, Rahul Joshi, maine donon ki le li. You can’t run stories against my clients and get away with it.”
“I have a note, no, a whole dossier, on Praful Patel on the last five years jisme ye poora aspect hai.”
“Inka pichhle paanch saal mein yahi attempt to tha, inko destroy karo, donon careers ko.”
“Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar, Venkaiah Naidu, ye sab coterie hain na of Advani.”
“Naresh wants to kill it (Air India), Vijay wants to kill it and Praful is not really interested.”
“Raja has promised me that he will not do anything in a hurry. I made Kani speak to him as well. ”
“The solicitor general, Gopal Subramaniam, I am gonna go and brief him. He hates them.”
radia tapes
‘What Do You Want Me To Tell Them (The Congress)? Tell Me. I’ll talk To Them.’
Barkha Dutt, Group editor, English news, NDTV
Share
COMMENTS
Also In This Story
radia tapes
All Lines Are Busy
There was not one pie Niira Radia didn’t have her hand in nor any area—media, corporate or government—she didn’t have a contact in
radia tapes
‘I Know Who Planted In Congress That Azhagiri Knows No English’
A. Raja, Former telecom minister
radia tapes
‘How Do I Make Dad Understand? He Doesn’t Understand...’
Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP
radia tapes
‘I Am Surprised Raja After All You Did For Him Is Playing This Game’
Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons
radia tapes
'Who Do You Want Congress To Talk To? Karunanidhi? I’ll Speak To Ahmed Patel.’
Vir Sanghvi, HT advisory editorial director
radia tapes
‘Give Your Story To A Paper Which Will Carry It As A Lead Flyer. Isko CNBC Ko Do.’
M.K. Venu, Senior business journalist
radia tapes
‘So, How Did You Find Sunil (Mittal)? What Did You Think Of Him?’
Tarun Das, Former CII honcho
radia tapes
‘Mukesh Said, Haan Yaar, Ranjan, Congress To Ab Apni Dukaan Hai’
Ranjan Bhattacharya, Former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s foster son-in-law
the PM
The Truth Conditions
Manmohan Singh’s time, strangely, has seen more scams than any of his predecessors. What price the ‘Mr Clean’ image?
Saba Naqvi
the PM
There Was A Swan, It Had A Tale
Media grandstanding aside, it was the Pioneer that broke open the 2G scam
Debarshi Dasgupta
cag report
Those Missing Zeroes
What punishment awaits the guilty? And can the loss be recouped?
Arindam Mukherjee
Hear it as they spoke it: The Ratan Tata, Barkha Dutt & Other Tapes
***
Niira Radia: Hi, did I wake you up?
Barkha Dutt: Hi Niira. I have been up most of the night. The stalemate continues.
NR: They need to talk to him directly. That’s the only way. And that is the problem.
BD: Apparently now the message from the other side is why did Baalu go public? They claim that at this point they had offered them this formula and these guys said no. These guys never told them they would withdraw outside support. Apparently, the PM is pissed off that Baalu went public.
NR: That’s Baalu’s doing na?
BD: Yeah. Baalu’s doing. He’s not being instructed by Karunanidhi to do that.
NR: He was told to tell the Congress and come away. But the media was outside.
BD: Oh god! So, now what should I tell them? Tell me.
NR: I had a long chat with the wife and the daughter. The problem is they need to talk to Karunanidhi directly. The problem is they cannot talk in front of Maran, Baalu. They need to talk to Karunanidhi directly. There are enough Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu who can do that. The biggest problem is the followers of Azhagiri are saying you cannot give Maran a cabinet post and keep Azhagiri in the minister of state status.
BD: Will Karuna drop Baalu?
NR: Look, if you tell him Baalu is the only problem, I’d imagine he will drop him.
BD: But you see the problem is also a choice of portfolios, na?
NR: They haven’t said anything. Portfolios haven’t yet been discussed.
BD: Congress claims, for whatever it is worth, that DMK wanted surface transport, power, IT, telecom, railways and health. Abhi Congress has offered IT, telecom, chemicals and fertilisers and labour. This is where it stands. Will DMK accept?
NR: Maybe not. They will have to drop Maran if they have to accept that. Maran is pushing coal and mines.
BD: Who is pushing?
NR: Now Maran says you give me coal and mines. My honest advice is you tell them, they need to tell him directly that we are happy because Kanimozhi has no issue even being an independent. But Azhagiri is now telling her you cannot accept independent charge if Maran remains a cabinet minister. Congress is sending messages through the media and through various sources that Maran is going around telling everyone that he is the only acceptable person. That’s not correct, na?
BD: I know. We have taken that off.
NR: Congress needs to tell Karunanidhi that we have not said anything about Maran.
BD: Okay, Let me talk to them again.
NR: The choice of candidate, we leave to you. We leave the choice of candidates to you. We have some reservations about Baalu. Let them tell that we are not telling anything about Maran.
radia tapes
'Who Do You Want Congress To Talk To? Karunanidhi? I’ll Speak To Ahmed Patel.’
Vir Sanghvi, HT advisory editorial director
Share
COMMENTS
Also In This Story
radia tapes
All Lines Are Busy
There was not one pie Niira Radia didn’t have her hand in nor any area—media, corporate or government—she didn’t have a contact in
radia tapes
‘I Know Who Planted In Congress That Azhagiri Knows No English’
A. Raja, Former telecom minister
radia tapes
‘How Do I Make Dad Understand? He Doesn’t Understand...’
Kanimozhi, Rajya Sabha MP
radia tapes
‘I Am Surprised Raja After All You Did For Him Is Playing This Game’
Ratan Tata, Chairman, Tata Sons
radia tapes
‘What Do You Want Me To Tell Them (The Congress)? Tell Me. I’ll talk To Them.’
Barkha Dutt, Group editor, English news, NDTV
radia tapes
‘Give Your Story To A Paper Which Will Carry It As A Lead Flyer. Isko CNBC Ko Do.’
M.K. Venu, Senior business journalist
radia tapes
‘So, How Did You Find Sunil (Mittal)? What Did You Think Of Him?’
Tarun Das, Former CII honcho
radia tapes
‘Mukesh Said, Haan Yaar, Ranjan, Congress To Ab Apni Dukaan Hai’
Ranjan Bhattacharya, Former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s foster son-in-law
the PM
The Truth Conditions
Manmohan Singh’s time, strangely, has seen more scams than any of his predecessors. What price the ‘Mr Clean’ image?
Saba Naqvi
the PM
There Was A Swan, It Had A Tale
Media grandstanding aside, it was the Pioneer that broke open the 2G scam
Debarshi Dasgupta
cag report
Those Missing Zeroes
What punishment awaits the guilty? And can the loss be recouped?
Arindam Mukherjee
Hear it as they spoke it: The Vir Sanghvi- Niira Radia Tapes
***
Niira Radia: Hi.
Vir Sanghvi: Hi, can you talk?
NR: Yeah, yeah. Okay.
VS: You know, Maran did not meet Sonia.
NR: He did not.
VS: He won’t meet Sonia, he’s been there, they say we’re not treating him as official spokesperson at all. He called just now, I saw your message, he is calling up Ghulam Nabi Azad every half an hour and making new demands. As far as we’re concerned, there are two wives, one brother, one sister, one nephew, it’s all got very complicated for us. We’ve made a basic offer, if Karunanidhi responds to us and tells us he’d like to respond directly, he’d like to talk to Mrs Gandhi, we’d be happy. He spoke only to Manmohan Singh. We’ve told Maran they’ve to come back to us and tell us what they think of our offer. And, apparently the DMK is getting very bad press in Chennai.
NR: Hmm.
VS: So, he said we’re going to wait for two days. Let them come back, we’re of the line that this is not a Congress-DMK problem, this is an internal DMK problem because they can’t get their act together between all his wives and children and nephews. He’s got to get his act together and nominate one person and we’d be very happy to deal with him. We’re not happy with this Maran who keeps calling up Ghulam Nabi and saying ‘talk to me, talk to me’. They are not taking him seriously.
NR: Very interesting. I’m glad you spoke to Ghulam Nabi, did you?
VS: I spoke to Ahmed (Patel). Ghulam Nabi is not a very key figure. Ahmed is the key figure.
NR: Right.
VS: Yeah. So, Ahmed says Ghulam has been dealing with Maran. But Ghulam is not our official person and we’re not taking Maran seriously. As far as they are concerned, they’ve asked for five crucial ministries, it’s an idiotic and unreasonable demand. We’ve made them a perfectly reasonable demand. Now, it is for Karunanidhi to get back to us, Kani to come and see us, anyone can come and see us and say I’ll put you on the line with my father et cetera, lines are, doors are, open to her. But we can’t have a situation where Maran keeps calling us and saying I’m the person and telling Ghulam, I want this, I want that, who is Maran?’
NR: Hmm.
VS: Maran has gone back apparently today to Chennai?
NR: Yeah. He has gone back.
VS: Ahmed says, ‘We told him, we told Maran also that we’ll deal with Karunanidhi, so he has gone back. So, they are quite hopeful, they say, we made a very reasonable offer, we have lot of regards for Karunanidhi, we would like to deal with him. We have no regard for Maran.’
***
VS: Hello.
NR: Sorry to disturb you. They had a meeting.
VS: Okay.
NR: M.K. Narayanan had come. And as suggested it was Kani only. But they are still stuck to their four formula and one independent.
VS: Okay.
NR: But these people will also think about it and let him know tomorrow morning. He (Ahmed Patel) clarified everything.
VS: Okay, very good.
NR: I think that there was no issue and there was lot of relief from the chief minister’s side. And he realised that, you know, this is all being done by...
VS: By Maran.
NR: Yeah. But the thing is that it appears that he is still under a lot of pressure to take Maran, you know.
VS: Where is this coming from, this pressure?
NR: It’s coming from Stalin and his sister Selvi.
VS: Okay.
NR: I believe Maran has given Rs 600 crores to Dayalu, Stalin’s mother.
VS: It’s hard to argue with that kind of pressure.
NR: Isn’t it? But if they stick to three and want one independent charge, then Kani gets an independent and then Azhagiri, Baalu and Raja come in.
VS: That is not so bad, you know.
NR: Yeah, so I think.
VS: Unless Maran is one of the cabinet.
NR: Yeah. But I don’t think he can give it to three family members. That will send a very wrong signal.
***
VS: Hi, Niira.
NR: Hi, Vir. Where are you, Delhi or...
VS: I am in Jaipur. Coming back this evening.
NR: Okay. I’ve been talking to my Tamil Nadu friends. I don’t know whether you are in the position to get through to anyone at Congress. I met Kani just now.
VS: I was supposed to meet Sonia today but I’ve been stuck here. So, now it’s becoming tomorrow. I’ve been meeting with Rahul, but tell me...
NR: They are not understanding that they are actually communicating with the wrong guy. Not because I detest Maran but actually the father has not nominated Maran to negotiate. Now, you know, it’s like a banana republic where the cabinet...
VS: Then why has Maran become the face, they all hate Maran.
NR: No, he’s not. I know. But the Congress is under another impression. They have already apparently indicated to Maran that the prime minister will not give infrastructure to DMK. But he is desperately pushing for an infrastructure berth himself.
VS: Right.
NR: But the problem is that there is a leader which is Kani’s brother who is Azhagiri who’s won that election and he is a mass leader. He controls half of Tamil Nadu. And the father cannot afford to upset him because...
VS: Obviously...
NR: Simply because of his position.
VS: Yeah.
NR: Right now the Congress doesn’t seem to be understanding this.
VS: So, who should they talk to?
NR: They need to talk directly to Karunanidhi. They need to talk to Kani.
VS: Let me try and get through to Ahmed.
Hear it as they spoke it: The Vir Sanghvi- Niira Radia Tapes(source- outlook india)
No comments:
Post a Comment