New Delhi:
While several questions hang over the fate of Public Account Committee (PAC) Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi's draft report on the 2G scam, the war of words that has been raging on the sidelines has become more intense since yesterday's dramatic PAC meeting.
After the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) joined the dissenting Congress and DMK members of the committee to reject Mr Joshi's report, BJP leader Arun Jaitley lashed out saying, "look at the kind of alliance they have forged, it was a coalition of the corrupt." Jaitley said by doing this, the UPA had tried to scuttle the PAC's investigation.
Speaking to NDTV, Jaitley said, "A PAC proceeding is a part of the parliamentary accountability. The facts that were coming to the surface were going to be very embarrassing for the UPA so obviously they chose the best available option to them to scuttle the probe. You had important functionaries and ministers participating in making sure that the proceedings were disrupted. The rules of Parliament very clearly say that the chairman of the PAC shall belong to the largest party in Opposition. So it had to be a member of the BJP, Dr Joshi. It couldn't have been a member of the UPA, so it's only child's play to say we elected our own chairman in contravention of the rules."
(Watch: 'Coalition of corrupt,' alleges Arun Jaitley)Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has countered the BJP argument saying that yesterday's events were part of a democratic process, and that by walking out of the meeting, "MM Joshi demonstrated how undemocratic he is." His report has been rejected, it has resulted in the closure of the matter," Sibal said, adding, "Now it's clear that Mr Joshi has become Mr Doshi."
(Watch)On Thursday, Mr Joshi walked out of the PAC meeting as his report on the 2G scam was being defeated by one vote when 11 of the 21 members of the committee submitted written notes casting their votes against it. The senior BJP leader walked out without voting. He maintains that because of the cacophony, he had adjourned the meeting and so there could be no proceedings after that. "There was no voting," he said after walking out.
(Read: Joshi walks out, 2G report defeated by 1 vote)Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal begged to differ. He alleged that Mr Joshi "came with a predetermined agenda to adjourn the meeting, he did not adjourn the meet." Mr Bansal also says that Congress MP Saifuddin Soz will now send the "recorded votes" against the Joshi report to the Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
The Speaker is thus likely to take a final view on which version holds. To bolster their claim, the 11 dissenting members say they had rejected the draft report twice in writing at the meeting. Once at 11 am and then again, when the meeting reconvened after lunch, at 4 pm.
The term of the current PAC expires on Saturday; Mr Joshi is meant to continue as Chairman for the new PAC. He was especially offended by allegations from the Congress and SMK that described the report as "outsourced." Mr Joshi described this accusation as "an attack on Parliament."
In a symbolic gesture of rebellion, after Mr Joshi exited the meeting, Congress and DMK members declared Congress leader Saifuddin Soz the Chairman for the day. It is in that capacity that he will send the "recorded votes" to the Speaker. Mr Joshi, however, also contends that since as Chairman he had "adjourned the meeting...the meeting was over. Since there was no meeting - no Chairman could be chosen citing my absence."
(Watch: Joshi was only following rules, clarifies BJP)Mr Joshi' report is critical of the Prime Minister, his office and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram - it alleges they didn't do enough to keep A Raja from executing the scam that he allegedly masterminded.
Mr Raja, who is from the DMK and was Telecom Minister in 2008, is in jail for selling licenses and spectrum to telecom companies who were ineligible.