Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P.C. Chacko’s rejection of A. Raja’s plea that he be allowed to depose on 2G spectrum allocation is turning into a major controversy with the DMK fully backing the former Communications Minister.
“We will not budge until our MP Mr. Raja is allowed to appear before the JPC. They have dented the image of the DMK and it is a question of setting the record straight. He should be allowed to explain his position on the spectrum allocation issue,” DMK parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu told The Hindu on Friday. So far, no date had been fixed by Mr. Chacko for the next JPC meeting, he said.
As for the DMK’s rival, the AIADMK, which has a lone representative, M. Thambi Durai, on the 20-member committee, the party will soon decide its stand on Mr. Raja’s request. “We have not decided so far and we are waiting for a direction from our general secretary and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,” said sources in the AIADMK.
The CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta, who is a JPC member, said he had been repeatedly asking Mr. Chacko to convene the committee to take up Mr. Raja’s plea. “I don’t know why he is avoiding convening the meeting.”
