After giving conflicting signals on constituting a joint parliamentary committee to probe 2G spectrum allocation, UPA partners Trinamul Congress and DMK on Tuesday came out in support of the government. The NDA and the Left Front, meanwhile, are working on a strategy to take this issue to the people ahead of the Assembly elections in five states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, to put Ms Mamata Banerjee and Mr Karunanidhi on the defensive.
“I do not know what the government is going to decide. We have full trust in the Prime Minister. We will be happy if the government forms a JPC,” Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said in Kolkata on Tuesday. “We are with the UPA. Our support is totally with the Prime Minister. Whatever decision the Prime Minister takes, we will support. We are an alliance partner of the government. We have our limitations. The Prime Minister heads the government. Whatever the Prime Minister decides we will abide by,” Ms Banerjee added Although she favoured setting up a JPC, she is not in the mood to stretch this issue too far. Ms Banerjee also clarified that she has no plans to ask the PM to constitute a JPC. “Why should I request him? He is the seniormost in the Cabinet, with vast experience. I have total faith in the Prime Minister,” she said. The Trinamul Congress chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Mr Sudip Bandopadhyay, too told reporters on Tuesday: “If the government agrees for a JPC, it is good ... but we will support the government in whatever stand it and the Prime Minister take. We believe the Prime Minister is honest.”
In New Delhi, DMK Parliamentary Party leader T.R. Baalu said, “We will sail along with the government” and added that his party has left the question of a JPC to the government. NCP Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah have already backed the government, saying, “No JPC, no sine die adjournment (of Parliament).” But, at an all-party meeting called by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee a few days ago to break the impasse in Parliament, these four allies had been in favour of a JPC.
While NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav has been authorised by the coalition to talk to potential allies, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and Chandra Mohan Patwari had sought
an appointment with her on Wednesday to discuss their participation in the rally against corruption.
INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala has already told the BJP and JD(U) his party will take part in the rally. Ms Swaraj said the BJD is also open to attending the rally and Mr Pyari Mohan Mohapatra had given his consent. The BJP has also been in touch with Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik. AIADMK leader Thambidurai informed the BJP that since party supremo Jayalalithaa was in Ooty, a final decision would be taken only when she returned to Chennai.
The BJP, JD(U), Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders took part in a NDA meeting held on the Parliament premises on Tuesday and asked the BJP to finalise the date for the rally against corruption. “The BJP core group will meet on December 9 to discuss the date for the rally,” Ms Swaraj said.
Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh said if the government did not concede a JPC probe into alleged scams, the NDA would raise this issue again in the Budget Session of Parliament. Irked by the government’s refusal to accept the demand for a JPC probe, the Left parties decided to organise protests across India to “take the issue to the people”.
Top Left leaders reviewed the continued disruption of Parliament at a meeting here attended by Mr Prakash Karat, Mr Sitaram Yechury (both CPI-M), Mr A.B. Bardhan, Mr D. Raja (both CPI) and Mr Abani Roy (RSP). Leaders of the Forward Bloc were not present as they were attending an organisational meeting. The Left leaders will be talking to leaders of other political parties, like the BJD, the AIADMK, the TDP, the RLD, the AGP, the MDMK and the JD(S), over the next few days to chalk out the agitation programme, the sources said.
Meanwhile, Mr Pranab Mukherjee parried a question on whether the UPA allies were pressuring the Congress to yield to the Opposition on a JPC probe. “I do not know whether leaders of the Opposition are reconsidering and thinking of allowing the House to function. If they do that, we will welcome it,” Mr Mukherjee told reporters here.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters: “There is no rethinking on the JPC. JPC is uncalled for. It is only a political handle being used by the Opposition. The allies are very much part of the government and we stand united.” Mr Bansal said the allies’ sentiments have been “quite eloquently” expressed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar.
In a related development, the Congress core group, consisting of the PM, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders, met for nearly 90 minutes on Tuesday evening against the backdrop of these developments.
The NDA, meanwhile, also said a five-day special session of Parliament could be held to compensate for the loss provided the government conceded and constituted a JPC. “Let the government hold a special session of Parliament for five days after constituting the JPC. We are ready to sit till midnight to complete Parliament work,” JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said.