As its efforts to broker peace with opposition parties came a cropper, the government on Monday claimed that their demand for JPC probe into 2G spectrum scam was "politically motivated" and accused them of trying to mislead the people.
Slamming the opposition for disrupting Parliament proceeding over the demand for JPC, parliamentary affairs minister P.K. Bansal renewed the offer for extensive debate on the issue in both Houses.
"Opposition is trying to mislead the people. Joint parliamentary committee would not be able to achieve any result as parties are sharply divided on political lines and atmosphere is surcharged. Their demand for JPC is politically motivated," the minister told reporters.
He maintained that the government had already committed that it would go into the depth of the 2G spectrum allocation scam to find out the truth and punish the guilty.
"The Opposition had given 22 subjects for discussion in this session. Let us leave that aside and discuss the 2G spectrum issue not for one hour or two hours but for three days. But let us come to the House," Bansal said.
Referring to a recent interview of former BJP MP Arun Shourie, he said, "What Shourie has said the opposition should keep that in mind while pressing for a JPC probe.
"It is intellectual dishonesty on the part of the opposition," Bansal said. Shourie had alleged that fearing he would raise the issue of rift between Ambani brothers, BJP fielded senior party leader M. Venkaiah Naidu to lead the debate on the 2G spectrum scam.