Don’t shy away from house probe, Jayalalithaa tells UPA

CHENNAI - Pressing for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa Tuesday wondered why was the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), including the DMK, shying from such an inquiry.

In a statement issued here, Jayalalithaa said: “If all the alliance partners of the UPA, barring the DMK of course, are clear that their hands are clean, why should they shy away from a JPC probe?”

“If they continue to oppose the opposition demand for a JPC probe, then the only conclusion the people can draw is that they too have dipped into the loot,” she said.

Flaying union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statements rejecting a JPC probe, Jayalalithaa said the decision seemed to be the collective view of the UPA.

“This is most unfortunate as it reflects the insensitivity of the government to the combined voice of the opposition on an issue in which not just (DMK leader and former telecom minister) A. Raja, but the government of India itself is in hot waters,” she added.

Agreeing that it is the normal practice for issues raised in a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report to be taken up by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of parliament, she said: “But a Rs.1.76 trillion crore scam is certainly not a normal situation. It is abnormal, to say the least. And a JPC probe alone would be proper under the circumstances.”

Alleging distribution of money and gifts by the DMK during the state byelections and the 2009 parliamentary polls to the electorate, she said: “The AIADMK has reason to believe that the huge funds used for such a subversive activity had come from the spectrum loot.”

“As such, it is imperative to find out the truth and bring the criminals to justice at the earliest if democracy is to be preserved,” she said.