2G Spectrum Scam exposes media-politician-ngo nexus

The UPA seems all set to score another self goal – this time on account of the 2G spectrum scandal that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has chosen to ignore for sometime now.

While most of the fury and fire on the 2G spectrum scam has focused on the DMK’s A. Raja, the expose today has also revealed a different kind of nexus – between leading media personalities and NGOs lobbying Politicians on behalf of otherwise respected Business Houses.

The Hindu posted on its website a 14 page electronic document comprising of scanned images of what appear to be correspondence between the CBI, CBDT and internal notes marked “Top Secret”.

Page 9 of this document mentions the names “Barkha Dutt” and “Vir Sanghvi” in connection with lobbying the Congress on behalf of DMK’s Kanimozhi for Ministerial berths. The references seem to follow a report from a website called Whispers in Corridors and based on what appear to be notes in an “Internal Report” summarizing telephone intercept conversations.

To be accurate allegations in Page 9 and the rest of the pages in the electronic document are not directly substantiated nor are they authoritative on the authorship of the notes. There also is no independent validation of the authenticity of the correspondence between Government agencies listed in this electronic document.

Also mentioned in this document are instances of lobbying firms arranging for NGOs to file PILs against leading Business Houses on behalf of competition as well as attempts to lobby even the so called incoruptible Left leaders of the CPI-M.

Read full Report Here

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