The CPI has said the Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam was justified and the UPA government should find out a formula to pave the way for setting up the MPs’ panel and end the deadlock in Parliament.
“The onus of running Parliament is on the government. The way the CBI’s preliminary investigation has indicted former telecom minister A. Raja and bureaucrats, a JPC would be an appropriate agency to look into the spectrum policy, may be since the NDA regime,” CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said.
He said there are also many more important issues to be discussed in Parliament like rise in prices of essential commodities and contradictory statements by responsible persons in the government and bureaucracy, including Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Mr Bardhan, while criticising Dr Ahluwalia for his statement that inflation will be under control by March, wondered since when economists have become fortune-tellers.
Criticising the main Opposition BJP, the veteran Communist leader said the track record of the saffron outfit in nailing those involved in corruption and scandals was not good.
The Left is not averse to a thorough probe into the 2G spectrum scam covering both the NDA and UPA rules, he said. He slammed telecom minister Kapil Sibal for his criticism of CAG, which has pegged the 2G scam loss at a staggering `1.76 lakh crores.
Mr Sibal had rejected CAG estimates of loss and said the figure quoted “was utterly erroneous”. “I don’t think he can make such statements without the knowledge and blessing of higher-ups in the government,” he said. —PTI