JPC more essential after Raja’s arrest: BJP, Left

SHILLONG - Reiterating their demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties Saturday said a probe into the scam has become essential with arrest of former communications minister A.Raja.

“We dont want a debate or discussion on JPC, but we want JPC first to probe into the scam (2G spectrum) of the century,” senior BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha told journalists, while appealing to other parties to press for the JPC.

He said the BJP will not budge from its demand for a JPC and said the house will be able to function smoothly only after the opposition’s demand is met.

Echoing the BJP leader, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said: “JPC is absolutely essential with the latest development.”

The budget session of Parliament is scheduled to begin Feb 21.

Sinha and Yechury were here as members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture to hold a review meeting with the Meghalaya government officials on the progress of tourism development in the state. The panel is headed by Yechury.

“The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) has been pushed to the wall with the arrest of the former minister. The needle of suspicion point towards the main leader and I hope good sense prevail on them to constitute the JPC in the interest of the country,” Sinha said.

Meanwhile, Yechury told IANS that the latest development makes it more important for the parliamentary committee probe “as it will help in ascertaining the factors involved in the manipulation of the system and suggest measures to avoid recurrence of such lapses”.

The winter session was crippled by the opposition, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left, and worries are that the three-month budget session could go the same way.

The government has so far ruled out the JPC probe into the scam that cost Raja his ministry and latter led to his arrest.

The Congress earlier opposed the demand for a JPC, saying that a probe has already been instituted by the government into 2G spectrum controversy and the Public Accounts Committee of parliament was also looking into the matter.