Oppn intensifies demand for JPC in 2G; wants PM to appear

The tug-of-war in Parliament on the 2G spectrum issue intensified on Monday with non-NDA opposition parties declaring that nothing short of a JPC will suffice and wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appear before the panel.

The tug-of-war in Parliament on the 2G spectrum issue intensified on Monday with non-NDA opposition parties declaring that nothing short of a JPC will suffice and wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appear before the panel.

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"There is nobody who cannot be called. If Bill Clinton could be called by a parliamentary committee and if British Prime Minister could come....what is wrong in inviting our head of the government to explain," CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta said.

He was talking to reporters after 11 non-NDA opposition parties met to chalk out a common strategy on the issue as the government has consistently rejected the demand.

The BJP-led NDA has also made it clear that it stood for JPC and threatened that the winter session of Parliament, concluding this week, would not function till the demand is met.

Dasgupta also made it clear that the Opposition was not accusing anybody except former Telecom Minister A Raja.

Echoing similar views, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said the government knows that the Prime Minister was the most experienced person and he had faced JPC as Finance Minister.

Asked whether the Opposition can give an assurance that the Prime Minister will not be summoned before JPC, Yechury said, "the Opposition cannot give any assurance to presumed fears."

Accusing the Prime Minister of "dereliction of duty", Dasgupta said being the chief of the government, how can he be not held morally responsible while the "whole government is in the dock".

He wondered how the Prime Minister could be isolated from the government. "If the Prime Minister is called for a discussion, what is wrong," he posed.

Leaders belonging to CPI-M, CPI, Forward Bloc, RSP, TDP, JD(S), AIADMK, AGP, BJD, MDMK and RLD squarely blamed the government for the Parliament stalemate.