India government mired in giant graft scandal

NEW DELHI. November 17. KAZINFORM One of India's biggest corruption scandals in the Congress-led government's six years in power has damaged the prime minister's image, strained ties with a key coalition ally and disrupted the passage of reform bills; Kazinform refers to China Daily.

While the scandal over the granting of 2G telecoms licences that prompted Telecoms Minister Andimuthu Raja's sacking is unlikely to threaten the government's survival, it underscored the fragility of a fickle coalition despite its overwhelming re-election in 2009.

At stake is not only the image of the ruling Congress, a party that in 1989 lost a general election partly due to a scandal over gun contracts involving close associates of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who were accused of taking bribes.

The scandal also threatens to drag Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's second term into further policy limbo. In a hearing into the case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court bench criticised Singh's slowness in deciding if Raja could be charged and investigated.

"We find it is now more than 16 months ... We find alleged inaction and silence troubling," the Supreme Court bench was quoted by local media as saying. The comments by the judges do not form part of a judgment.

The main opposition party, which has repeatedly blocked progress in parliamentary sessions over the last year, said on Monday it would carry on blocking reform bills; Kazinform cites China Daily.

See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.