Chidambaram may head group of ministers on telecom: report

Home minister P Chidambaram who was finance minister at the time of the 2008 telecom scandal and was alleged to have conspired with telecom minister A Raja in the spectrum misallocation, will now head the panel to decide on a fresh auction of spectrum, if reports are to be believed.

Several names, including those of HRD minister Kapil Sibal and law minister Salman Khurshid had propped up after agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recused himself from the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom saying it would be inappropriate for him to head the panel since he himself was earlier accused of having links with the DB group, one of the beneficiaries of the 2008 telecom spectrum scandal.

Reports also said the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on telecom would now be a mere group of ministers without any power to decide and that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would take the decision for the group.

Official sources said Chidambaram's name topped the list of probables who would head the reconstituted group of ministers – empowered or not.

While it seems unlikely that Chidambaram, who was alleged to have connived with A Raja in the telecom allocation scam, will now head a panel to decide on spectrum scale, it also holds that the home minister would get a chance to defend himself.

Pawar's name does not even figure as a member of the reconstituted ministerial panel.

Other members of the ministers group are defence minister A K Antony, telecom minister Kapil Sibal, I&B minister Ambika Soni, law minister Salman Khurshid, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The ministers group was reconstituted last week after Pranab Mukherjee who was finance minister and the EGoM head resigned from the ministry to contest presidential elections.