By IANS
Chennai : Former communication and IT minister Dayanidhi Maran Saturday refuted the charge that he interfered with the tender process of state-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and urged the prime minister to order an inquiry into the matter.
Claiming that he had never interfered with the tendering process either in BSNL or Mahanahar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Maran pointed to an unnamed NRI businessman with vested interests attempting to stall the process by mounting a “sinister campaign”.
In his letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Maran said, “false propaganda planted seeds of doubt in the minds of the public (with an) ulterior move to tarnish my name.”
Last week, Communication and IT Minister A. Raja had charged his predecessor Maran with an attempt to squander BSNL funds to the tune of Rs.100 billion.
Earlier Saturday, Raja said here he would quit if charges levelled against him by BSNL employees during Monday’s nationwide strike were found to be true.
The minister’s comments came ahead of a board meeting of BSNL scheduled for Monday to rework its much talked about multi-billion-rupees, 45.5 million GSM line tender.
According to industry sources, BSNL employees went on strike for not being able to conclude discussions with Raja and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) about the placing of contracts with regard to laying the GSM lines by selected vendors.