April 24, 2013
NEW DELHI: Faced with a serious risk of the rejection of the JPC report on spectrum scam which gave a clean chit to the prime minister and the finance minister, Congress on Tuesday aggressively lobbied SP to prevent it from joining parties determined to change the draft prepared by Congress's P C Chacko.
April 24, 2013
NEW DELHI: Faced with a serious risk of the rejection of the JPC report on spectrum scam which gave a clean chit to the prime minister and the finance minister, Congress on Tuesday aggressively lobbied SP to prevent it from joining parties determined to change the draft prepared by Congress's P C Chacko.
With 15 members of the 30-strong parliamentary panel set to insist on significant changes in the report prepared under Chacko which pinned the blame of the spectrum scam on NDA and former telecom minister A Raja, the vote of the SP member on the committee, Shailendra Kumar, will be decisive in settling whether the PM and the finance minister attract the blame for the spectrum scam.
BJP, DMK, CPI, CPM, JD(U), AIADMK and BJD, who add up to 15 in the 30-member JPC that includes its chairman Chacko, seem set to reverse the exoneration for the UPA bigwigs, as well as to vote a no-confidence motion against Chacko at the panel's meeting on Thursday. This can put Chacko into serious trouble as he cannot participate in the vote to determine his own fate.
Cong worry extends beyond JPC report
But Congress's worry extends beyond what may happen to Chacko. It has 11 members. Although it is assured of the support of NCP (one) and BSP (2), it may not be able to protect the politically significant "clean chit" the JPC under Chacko has given to the PM and P Chidambaram if the SP were to join ranks with the opposition.
SP's statement on Monday protesting against former telecom minister Raja being not allowed by Chacko to present his case and indications that BJP leaders might approach Mulayam Singh Yadav led parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath to make a vigorous effort to persuade the Samajwadi supremo.
Although Congress sources said the parliamentary affairs minister had brought Mulayam around, the leadership will be anxiously watching SP's moves until Thursday when the JPC is set to meet.
The tough nature of the task was evident when Congress chief Sonia Gandhi held an hour-long meeting with the PM, the parliamentary affairs minister and her political secretary Ahmed Patel to review the situation.
Chacko also seemed to recognize the challenge when he cited tradition and precedents that the draft JPC report had never been changed.
Sensing a good opportunity to embarrass the government, opposition, its ranks reinforced by the entry of rebel UPA constituents DMK and Trinamool, were playing their cards well. On Tuesday, BJP decided to take a backseat to BJD to provide DMK, Trinamool cover against the charge of collaboration with "communal forces".
At a meeting at the Biju Janata Dal parliamentary office on Tuesday, BJD's Arjun Charan Sethi, BJP's Yashwant Sinha, DMK's T R Baalu, CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta and Trinamool's Kalyan Bannerjee decided to write to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar seeking a no-confidence motion against Chacko when the JPC meets on April 25. CPM and AIADMK have supported the decision.
Janata Dal (U) was not present at the meeting but sources said Sharad Yadav has been sounded out over the proposal. "Yes, meeting of opposition leaders did take place," BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab said when contacted by TOI.
The opposition move comes in the wake of anger across non-UPA lines over a "one sided" draft that exonerates Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, rejects the Comptroller and Auditor General's 2G loss calculations and pins a Rs 40,080 crore loss on the Vajpayee government.
The petition to the Speaker is expected to list Chacko's alleged partisanship in not calling former telecom minister and 2G accused A Raja before the JPC and leak of the draft even before it reached opposition members.
An actual vote in the committee is unlikely, but a letter expressing no confidence in Chacko signed by half the committee is expected to convey a strong political message, not the least as it brings bitter rivals like AIADMK and DMK as well as the Left and Trinamool together — a rare occurrence in itself.
The opposition MPs intend to also submit representations "rejecting" the draft rather than the more usual notes of dissent.
The common strategy evolved by the opposition is significant as it brings major non-UPA parties together and leaves Congress critically dependent on Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to try and muster the numbers in the committee in case a vote is allowed.
Courtesy: TNN
