New Delhi:
The Opposition may have its way after all. The government seems to be veering around to the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to study the 2G spectrum scam.
During the winter session, the government said no to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry, and that led to a complete paralysis of Parliament with less than 10 hours of business being conducted. The government all throughout kept saying, let's first debate the need for a JPC, but the Opposition held up Parliament, saying first let's have the JPC, then debate.
An all-party meeting called this afternoon by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee seems to have paved the way for a compromise. "The government and the Opposition agree that Parliament must run at all costs," said the BJP's Sushma Swaraj after the meeting.
"The most important aspect is that all political parties want to break the political deadlock, and allow Parliament to function," said Ghulam Nabi Azad, Cabinet Minister.
The government now appears to be giving in because the critical budget session is coming up. The government, however, cannot announce a JPC outside Parliament as it would violate rules.
Sources say that during the budget session - which starts on February 22 - a substantive motion on 2G will be moved in the house, and after a debate, Parliament will vote on whether to set up a JPC to investigate the spectrum scam. Mr Mukherjee is set to have another all-party meeting a day before the President's opening address.
The 2G scam catapulted A Raja out of the office of Telecom Minister in November after the government's auditor indicted him for deliberately under-valuing spectrum to benefit companies that were largely ineligible for it. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) estimated that the losses caused by Mr Raja in his mishandling of mobile network licences could add upto 1.76 lakh crores.