The non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party Opposition parties are to meet President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday to urge her to advise the United Progressive Alliance government to accept the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
With both the Houses of Parliament getting adjourned for 12 consecutive working days without transacting any business — barring tabling of papers amid tumultuous scenes — leaders of the Left parties, the Telugu Desam Party, the Biju Janata Dal, the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Janata Dal (Secular) met here on Monday to decide the course.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta told The Hindu that the President had agreed to meet them. The leaders, he said, decided to urge the President to advise the government to accept their demand for a JPC probe and end the stalemate in Parliament.
The parties have put the onus of proper functioning of the House on the government, stressing that the responsibility of the smooth running of Parliament was with the ruling coalition.
Mr. Dasgupta said he and party national secretary D. Raja met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late last week to emphasise that only a JPC and not a Public Accounts Committee could conduct a comprehensive probe into the issue.
“We [the Opposition] have no interest in maligning the office of the Prime Minister, and the issue is not to politicise the 2G issue. By not agreeing to a JPC, a message emerges that the government is afraid of facing an inquiry,” the CPI leader told Dr. Singh.
Mr. Dasgupta also sought to know why the government was allowing the BJP to exploit the situation, and suggested that the terms of reference for the JPC be drafted to pinpoint the failure of the Communications Ministry, that led a huge loss of revenue — estimated to be Rs.1.76-lakh crore by the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
