JOIN USOppn wants JPC chief sacked over 2G report
There was no let up in the stalemate between the Centre and the Opposition over the JPC draft report on the 2G scam as half the 30-member committee on Thursday demanded the removal of chairman P C Chacko, while the Congress sought the ouster of three BJP members.
While Chacko insisted that he would continue as the JPC chairman until “completion of the task,” the Opposition stood firm on its decision to disrupt House proceedings. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has called Chacko for a discussion on Friday.
With this session of Parliament headed for a washout in the wake of the standoff, Congress leadership reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the way Chacko handled the issue, saying that he “messed up things.”
The national capital witnessed dramatic political developments on Thursday, when the JPC was scheduled to adopt the draft report on 2G spectrum allocation, which gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
As the opposition parties prepared to go for the jugular, the meeting was suddenly postponed following the death of Trinamool Congress MP from Howrah in West Bengal, Ambika Banerjee. Though another date is yet to be set, sources told Deccan Herald that the meeting was postponed at the behest of the Congress leadership which wanted to avoid any confrontation with the Opposition.
The Congress is trying to buy peace with the Opposition since it wants to pass some of the key bills on land acquisition and food security. The ruling dispensation was of the opinion that the JPC meeting should not be a hurdle at this juncture. The next meeting may take place at the end of the Parliament session, which is scheduled to end on May 10.
Soon after the meeting was postponed, 15 committee members belonging to the BJP, JD-U, AIADMK, DMK, TMC, BJD and the Left parties petitioned for Chacko’s removal before Speaker Meira Kumar. They accused him of “highly partisan, unfair and prejudicial conduct.” Alleging that Chacko had failed in his duty to lead the JPC and bring out the truth, the opposition parties alleged that he used the committee to conceal and subvert the truth.
In a counter-measure, Congress leaders met the Speaker to demand the removal of three BJP members, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and Ravi Shankar Prasad, citing “conflict of interest.”
“They were instrumental in taking major decisions relating to the telecom sector that are being investigated into by the JPC as its terms of reference is spread over the period from 1998 to 2009,” stated the letter by the Congress.
Hitting back, Sinha rejected the Congress demand for removal of BJP members and called the ruling party members “illiterate.”
Meanwhile, Chacko told reporters that he would remain the JPC chairman until he gets an “indication from the Speaker. I will try to ensure that no voting takes place over adoption of the report as there was no such precedence in the earlier JPCs,” he added.