JPC meet on 2G today, set to be stormy affair

The meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JP), looking into the 2G spectrum allocation scam, scheduled on Friday could be stormy with Opposition members all set to oppose the move to adopt the controversial draft report which has given a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and indicted former communications minister and DMK leader A. Raja. Ahead of the crucial meeting, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury has submitted a dissent note to panel chairman P.C. Chacko, alleging that the panel has failed to live up to its mandate by not quizzing the Prime Minister and the finance minister on the issue. Key UPA ally NCP has also demanded calling Mr Raja as a witness, saying it is only fair to listen to a person who has been blamed in the draft report. Opposition parties, including BJP, the Left, DMK and JD(U), had also made a similar demand. “It is the opinion of the party. We have registered our opinion to the JPC. But we do not wish to make it into an issue. We have told the committee our stand,” the sole NCP member in the panel Y.P. Trivedi said. While demanding that the former communications minister be called as a witness, DMK member T.R. Baalu has also demanded examining fresh documents before adopting the report. BJP’s former ally JD(U), which has two members in JP, on Thursday said while it favours calling Mr Raja as a witnesses, it is against calling the Prime Minister before the panel, a demand made by BJP and the Left. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, who is a JP member, said he “may not be able to attend” tomorrow’s meeting as he came to know about the date after his programmes in Bihar were already chalked out. Mr Yechury claimed the draft report was prepared without consultations with its members. Strongly objecting to the “failure” of the panel to call all material witnesses, including the Prime Minister and relying solely on the written submissions of former communications minister and not giving him an opportunity for oral evidence or face cross-examination by JP, he said in the 32-page note that the report has made “selective” use of the evidence. The parliamentary panel has 12 members of the ruling UPA. Among political parties supporting the government from outside, SP has one member and BSP two.