With the deadlock in Parliament continuing, MPs from non-NDA opposition parties on Tuesday approached President Pratibha Patil urging her to "advise" the government to accept the Opposition demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
About 80 MPs belonging to CPM, CPI, Forward Block, TDP, AIADMK, JD(S), MDMK, BJD and RLD marched from Parliament to the President's House and submitted a memorandum to her.
After the meeting, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said leaders of all the parties "urged the President to impress upon her government to accept the demand of JPC to probe the 2G scam."
He said the MPs requested her on the issue as the government constitutionally belongs to her.
Terming the 2G spectrum scam as "biggest corruption after independence", Yechury said that JPC was required not only to find out who was behind it and punish them but also to probe how massively the system can be manipulated.
"On the basis of this probe, there is a need to work on a new regulation which only a JPC can do," he added. AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai said, "PAC has its limitations and only a JPC can fully probe the issue."
CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta said, "We have requested the President to make use of her constitutional powers as she has the powers to advise the government. We want her to use her powers and advise the government on JPC."
Replying to a question, Yechury said, "We are not responsible for the Parliament not functioning. We want it to function but the government should accept our demand for JPC."
Before marching towards the President house, leaders of these parties staged a protest inside Parliament House complex and raised slogans demanding a JPC.