CAG 2G report row: Joshi seeks Sonia's apology, says will quit if charges true

New Delhi: A seemingly calm and composed Murli Manohar Joshi, senior BJP leader and PAC Chairman, on Friday demanded that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi apologise for her remark against his party over the latest row over the CAG's 2G report.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, Joshi said that he would quit PAC if ex-CAG principal audit officer's charges against him, that he had influenced the 2G report, were proved. "I never influenced anybody on the outcome of the 2G report. If RP Singh (ex-CAG principal audit officer) has signed the report, he should own it," Joshi said, adding that the charges against him were false and malicious.

"We simply requested the CAG to expedite its report on 2G as it was getting delayed," Joshi further said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, MM Joshi said that he would quit PAC if ex-CAG principal audit officer\'s charges against him were proved.

The Congress had earlier demanded that a probe be ordered into the latest charges against CAG and Joshi. Sonia Gandhi, while speaking to reporters, had said that the BJP stood exposed on the matter.

RP Singh, in an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, had claimed that Joshi had influenced CAG's 2G report and that the loss figure in it had been restored in the end despite having been deleted by him when the report was still at the draft stage.

Joshi called the entire episode a move to malign his and the CAG's image and deflect attention from real issues. "The Congress just wants to prove that they are the holy cows and we the crooks. This is not only a direct attempt to destroy the CAG, but the country as well."

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