New Delhi:
"Thanks but no thanks" said the BJP once again today to the PM's offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to explain the 2G spectrum scam. Dr Manomhan Singh has twice now described his offer as "unprecedented." The BJP was exacting in its response. "We don't want the PM to break any precedent," said party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy. "We are not interested in that...we are asking the PM to follow a precedent...and that's the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee)...he should appear before that."
However, the BJP's JPC-only agenda has been dented by one of its own. Murli Manohar Joshi, who heads the Public Accounts Committee or PAC, said yesterday that he would consider the PM's offer to answer questions posed by the PAC. He also shoved aside his party's contention that the PAC's mandate is limited, and that's why a JPC is crucial.
The split was wide open after Sushma Swaraj tweeted pretty much the opposite late last night. "The scope of PAC is totally different from that of JPC. While PAC deals with accounts, JPC deals with accountability and governance," she posted. Another tweet said, "Under the Lok Sabha Rules, PAC cannot call a Minister, much less the Prime Minister. Prime Minister's offer therefore, has no meaning."
Lok Sabha rules will have to be changed by the Parliament's General Purpose Committee to allow the PAC to question the Prime Minister.
But meanwhile, within the PAC, the Congress and the DMK have begun contesting the 1.76 lakh crore price tag that the government's auditor has put on the 2G scam. The same report also said that it was A Raja who deliberately undervalued spectrum in 2008 to virtually gift mobile licenses to companies that weren't eligible for them. That thesis led to a dramatic exit from government for Raja, who is a prominent DMK leader.
With the Congress and DMK using their presence on the PAC to challenge the government's auditor, the BJP will increasingly have to rely on its man, Joshi, to keep the pressure on the government. Its insistence on a JPC contradicts his vision for his committee. And that could provide a much needed diversion for the Congress.