Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday negated party colleague and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman M.M. Joshi’s contention that the PAC is an independent body that can go beyond what the CAG has reported on the 2G spectrum issue, bringing into the open the contradiction within the BJP over its demand for a JPC probe into the allocation of 2G spectrum.
The ruling Congress, however, defended Dr M.M. Joshi by suggesting that the Leader of the Opposition should desist from interfering in the functioning of a constitutional parliamentary committee. “We respect Dr Joshi as chairman of a constitutional parliamentary committee. He should be allowed to perform his functions,” AICC spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.
Writing on her social networking website, Ms Swaraj said, “The scope of a PAC is totally different from that of a JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance.” The BJP-led NDA and other Opposition parties have been demanding a JPC probe of the 2G spectrum issue. Ms Swaraj also termed as “entirely meaningless” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s letter to the PAC chairman volunteering to appear from the panel. Dr Joshi had said, in response to the PM’s letter: “We will take an appropriate decision at an appropriate time.”
The BJP, meanwhile, said it will attend the meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to break the logjam between the government and Opposition parties on the JPC issue.
With Dr Joshi pressing ahead with the PAC probe, the BJP on Tuesday reiterated its demand for a JPC probe and said it does not want the Prime Minister to break any precedent (by appearing before the PAC) but wants him to follow the precedent of conceding a JPC. The issue also came up for discussion at Tuesday’s BJP core committee meeting which was also attended by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari and senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Ramlal.
Reinforcing her party’s stand on a JPC and Dr Joshi’s statement that the PAC has no limits, Ms Swaraj said, “Under the Lok Sabha Rules, a PAC cannot call a minister, much less the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister’s offer (to appear before the PAC), therefore, has no meaning.”
BJP national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy also said his party will not settle for anything less than a JPC probe. “The BJP at its highest level reiterates its stand that to go deep into the `1.76 lakh crore scam, nothing less than a JPC probe will do. We want to state categorically that the BJP will not accept anything less than a JPC,” Mr Rudy said.
The AICC spokesperson, however, said that Dr Joshi is chairman of the PAC on account of his being a BJP MP. “If there is a problem in his party, and if Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushmaji has any differences with Dr Joshi, they should either sort out their differences within the party or one of them can resign from their post,” Dr Ahmed said.