UPA blinks: can discuss JPC

“If they (the Opposition) assure that there will be a debate,I am ready to call a special session of Parliament before the Budget session so that this issue (setting up of a JPC) is debated,” Mukherjee was quoted as saying.

The comment was made in response to BJP president Nitin Gadkari,who said his party would cooperate with the government in the Budget session provided a JPC was appointed.

The government’s move was viewed as a forward movement in the JPC vs PAC debate,especially since it had so far refused to even entertain the idea of considering a JPC. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal,who was present at the function,told The Indian Express that the government was never against a debate in Parliament,and if the Opposition was willing,it could have a discussion on “whether to have a JPC or not”.

Should the Opposition agree,there could be a four- or five-day special session to debate the usefulness of a JPC,Bansal added.

On Monday,the PM,while rejecting a JPC,had offered to appear before the PAC,even though the latter panel cannot examine ministers. The offer was targeted by the NDA at a rally in Delhi today — at which Alliance working chairman L K Advani announced the launch of a campaign against the PM,and leader after leader tore into Singh.

Sushma Swaraj said “Mr Clean” PM would be equally “guilty” if he is indifferent to corruption on his watch. Arun Jaitley demanded the government “set up a JPC or quit”.

Advani recalled the ‘weak PM’ campaign he had waged against Singh during the Lok Sabha elections,and said his “biggest complaint” was that the PM,despite his constitutional rights and the people’s mandate,keeps waiting for “what 10 Janpath says”.

“The Prime Minister’s post is not weak… Manmohan Singh should realise the power of the post he occupies,” he said.

Referring to the PM’s invocation of Caesar’s wife,Jaitley said: “The Prime Minister feels he should be beyond the realm of suspicion… If you want to get away from the realm of suspicion,come before the JPC honestly. Set up the JPC and answer all the questions that we have raised. And if the government doesn’t have answers,then quit the post on moral grounds.”

Jaitley said the Congress has a history of “covering up” corruption,and referred to the Bofors and Volcker scandals. Every leader who spoke attacked the PM on the appointment of P J Thomas as CVC.

However,even as Jaitley and Swaraj argued that the PM has “many things to hide” (from a JPC),Advani claimed a senior minister had told him the PM had no objection to setting up a JPC,implying that he was overruled by some “powerful” quarters.

During the Parliament stalemate,the Opposition was given to understand that the JPC demand had been accepted,but it did not ultimately happen,Advani said. Only the Prime Minister has the power to give the go-ahead for a JPC probe,he added.