On JPC, a reversal of roles for Congress and BJP

With both the Congress-led ruling combine and the Bharatiya Janata Party and others in the opposition locking horns over setting up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to go into the 2G spectrum allocation, the situation appears to be a re-run of the stand-off over the Tehelka expose on defence deals in 2001.

That year, the Congress-led Opposition stalled Parliament for two weeks, leading to a situation where passage of the Union budget without discussion looked a distinct possibility, until the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government declared that it had an “open mind” on the issue, leading to the smooth passage of the Finance Bill.

However, days after a pact was reached in the Speaker's chamber, the government set up a JPC — to the Opposition's surprise — not on the Tehelka expose but to go into the Ketan Parekh stock scam, a demand articulated by a section of the Opposition, including the Left. No JPC was forthcoming on the Tehelka expose. Eventually, the budget session was curtailed and it ended on a bitter note with Congress president Sonia Gandhi openly expressing resentment over Mr. Vajpayee's remarks after the valedictory session and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh leading a walkout.

And now, the roles appear reversed with minor variations in the script. There is talk of the government's keenness to get the supplementary Demands of Grants passed, through din and noise, if necessary, and then adjourn Parliament

sine die . However, it is not clear how the government will deal with an Opposition determined to take its case to the streets, and perhaps into the next session, which will be a budget session.

While the Congress is disinclined to go with the Opposition demand, it, as the principal opposition in 2001, adopted the same tactics of stalling Parliament proceedings demanding a JPC on the Tehelka expose.

The Congress stepped up pressure on the Vajpayee government with Pranab Mukherjee and others moving a motion in the Rajya Sabha stressing the need for a JPC. Later at a meeting between Ms. Gandhi and Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, she said her party had done its utmost to put an end to the crisis and made the most reasonable demand for setting up a JPC, on which there was no going back. There were suggestions that the government display statesmanship and make a gesture to break the deadlock by accepting the Opposition demand.

What the Congress said in 2001, the BJP is saying in 2010. What the BJP was doing in 2001, the Congress is doing in 2010.