BJP, Cong spar over 2G probe panel
4 April 2013 5:16 AM IST
The principal opposition party on Tuesday backed the demand made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha, that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should appear before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G spectrum issue. The BJP stressed that the Prime Minister should depose before the JPC to clear his stand after charges have been levelled by former telecom minister and prime accused in the case – A Raja.
‘BJP demands that the Prime Minister should keep his word that he is ready to appear before the PAC. The JPC is looking into the accountability of the executive, particularly the political executive to the Parliament,’ said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman. The BJP demanded finance minister P Chidambaram and A Raja should appear before the JPC.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who wrote a letter to Prime Minister on Monday, continued his attack on the government and said that the functioning of JPC is scandalous. ‘A. Raja has written a letter to the JPC chairman, Lok Sabha speaker demanding that he wants appears in front of the JPC so that he could testify, but he is being denied an opportunity,’ said Sinha. The BJP leader added that Raja has cast serious aspersions on the conduct of the Prime Minister and finance minister.
The BJP insisted that a minister appearing before a JPC is not unprecedented. ‘Manmohan Singh has himself appeared before a JPC in 1992 and Yashwant Sinha deposed before one earlier as a minister,’ said Sitharaman. BJP maintained since Raja has alleged that the Prime Minister and FM were privy to the decisions taken, all three of them should clear the air in front of the JPC.
‘Moreover, in the light of Attorney General G Vahanvati saying that Raja has interpolated a sentence in the 2G file after his (AG) having cleared it, raises several questions,’ said Sitharaman.Referring to the Supreme Court’s decision cancelling the 122 telecom licenses, BJP said that in a way the criminality in the matter has already been established.
The party said the JPC was formed after a struggle as Congress had adopted an ‘obstructionist attitude’ and refused to constitute it. This led to the washout of a winter session of Parliament before the government conceded the demand.
‘BJP demands that the Prime Minister should keep his word that he is ready to appear before the PAC. The JPC is looking into the accountability of the executive, particularly the political executive to the Parliament,’ said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman. The BJP demanded finance minister P Chidambaram and A Raja should appear before the JPC.
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who wrote a letter to Prime Minister on Monday, continued his attack on the government and said that the functioning of JPC is scandalous. ‘A. Raja has written a letter to the JPC chairman, Lok Sabha speaker demanding that he wants appears in front of the JPC so that he could testify, but he is being denied an opportunity,’ said Sinha. The BJP leader added that Raja has cast serious aspersions on the conduct of the Prime Minister and finance minister.
The BJP insisted that a minister appearing before a JPC is not unprecedented. ‘Manmohan Singh has himself appeared before a JPC in 1992 and Yashwant Sinha deposed before one earlier as a minister,’ said Sitharaman. BJP maintained since Raja has alleged that the Prime Minister and FM were privy to the decisions taken, all three of them should clear the air in front of the JPC.
‘Moreover, in the light of Attorney General G Vahanvati saying that Raja has interpolated a sentence in the 2G file after his (AG) having cleared it, raises several questions,’ said Sitharaman.Referring to the Supreme Court’s decision cancelling the 122 telecom licenses, BJP said that in a way the criminality in the matter has already been established.
The party said the JPC was formed after a struggle as Congress had adopted an ‘obstructionist attitude’ and refused to constitute it. This led to the washout of a winter session of Parliament before the government conceded the demand.
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