The demand came amid indications by the Congress that it would concede to the opposition’s insistence for a JPC probe. The BJP’s move also comes a day before the prime minister’s much-awaited media interaction.
“We demand a JPC not only for probing specifically the 2G scam, but the whole issue of corruption,” BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after the party’s national office-bearers’ meeting.
Pushed to a corner by the series of scandals, the prime minister is likely to embark on damage control when he addresses a press conference for electronic media editors at 11 am on Wednesday, which would be broadcast live on Doordarshan.
Singh is expected to break his silence and detail the measures his government has taken so far to check corruption and also some likely action in future. Though the demand for a JPC last year had included all the three major scams, the massive loss the 2G spectrum scam had caused to the exchequer prompted the opposition to focus on that issue.
The CAG report had estimated that the government could have lost as much as
Rs 1.76 lakh crore as a result of under-selling 2G spectrum.
The BJP also sought a statement from the prime minister on the controversy surrounding S-band allocation, since it fell under the department the PM looks after and involves the country’s security.
Speaking at a rally in Kolkata on Tuesday, BJP veteran L K Advani said: “If there is a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on 2G spectrum scam, then the blame will come only on the DMK and the Congress will go scot-free.”
“I want to say in this public rally that when opposition demands Parliamentary Committee probe, that means there should be Parliamentary Committee probe in all the corruption cases in recent times. Without this, the opposition will not be satisfied,” he asserted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has laid its fresh demand a day after the Congress core committee discussed the Parliamentary Committee issue. With the Budget session barely a week away, the Congress is likely to insist on a debate in Parliament before agreeing for Joint Parliamentary Committee, giving itself an opportunity to present its case before the legislature and, effectively before the people.
The Bharatiya Janata Party , on the contrary, has been sticking to its demand that the government should announce the JPC’s formation on the first day of the Parliament session beginning February 21.
DH News Service