MY family and I did not benefit from the corruption in my government,” former PM Manmohan Singh stated the other day while commenting on the explosive book by Pradip Baijal, former TRAI Chairman. “That does seem to be true,” says veteran journalist BN Uniyal, who has, incidentally, contributed an article in this issue. Speaking to gfiles over the phone, the journalist said, “I trust my friend, Rashpal Malhotra, for that, who once during a conversation at the IIC, New Delhi, had said, ‘Uniyal, the Sardar is absolutely incorruptible. All his must-do orders come from No. 10 (Janpath) and whatever comes in return goes there directly. My Sardar hasn’t the vaguest idea of any quid pro quo. He doesn’t sign on the dotted line; he only reads out the dotted text to his officers’. Rashpal should know, for he has been a close friend of the former PM for nearly five decades and it was because of his relationship of great trust with Rashpal that Singh appointed his son-in-law as his OSD. Although detractors at IIC wove many stories about how Rashpal had benefitted from his proximity to Singh, I can stand witness for him. He certainly drew no favours from the then Prime Minister other than a temporary directorship on the board of the State Bank of India. Tell me, what is a director’s post on the SBI Board worth for such a close friend of a PM?”
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