Cong leaves Maran to fend for himself

"These things are not solved by knee-jerk reaction...

You have to seek clarifications from Maran....Why don`t you ask CBI and Maran," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters in reply to a volley of questions.

Denying opposition charges that the Prime Minister was "sitting on" the matter, he said that the CBI investigations into the 2G scam were monitored by the Supreme Court.

Earlier in the day in Lucknow, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Murli Manohar Joshi accused textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran of having played a vital role in starting the 2G spectrum scam.

"Mr Maran started a big correspondence for getting the terms of references changed and separating the pricing of the spectrum. He was the one who took away the power from the group of ministers to look into the various aspects of allocation of spectrum and policy of pricing," Joshi, who is also a senior BJP leader, said.

Maran has rejected charges that his family owned Sun Television Network was a beneficiary of pay-offs by a Malaysian company which benefited from equity sold by Aircel.