Parliament may not have functioned normally the whole of the winter session till now, except for day one, but the main Opposition is of the view it has helped to focus on corruption better than a debate or a discussion on the issue would have.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said this was discussed at a Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party meeting on Tuesday morning. It was noted that the opposition may have functioned as two separate groups — the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties led by the BJP and the non-NDA Opposition led by the Left parties — but they were united in their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scandal.
If the subject had been debated in Parliament, Ms. Swaraj noted, it would have been forgotten as later it would have been overtaken by other discussions. The daily adjournments of Parliament had kept this important issue alive. And now, after the winter session ends, the NDA will “take it to the streets.”
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For this, the BJP has invited even some non-NDA parties to join the protest rallies that it wants to organise. A meeting of these parties will take place on Thursday after which the dates will be announced.
So far the BJP has contacted its former NDA allies — the Biju Janata Dal, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Indian National Lok Dal — and it has also spoken to an AIADMK leader. None of them has as yet confirmed participation in the protest meetings, but two representatives of the AGP will be meeting Ms. Swaraj on Wednesday.
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Asked whether the BJP's inability or unwillingness to deal with corruption in Karnataka had dented its credibility to lead such a protest, Ms. Swaraj said the Left would not have joined the BJP-led platform in any case.
She pointed out that L.K. Advani had offered to the government that if it conceded the JPC demand, the BJP would cooperate with it for sitting extended hours in Parliament and completing any government business. But that offer was not taken up.