|
Pranab's efforts fail, Deadlock over 2G scam probe continues
Monday November 22, 2010 07:16:27 PM,
IANS
|
|
New Delhi:
Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee's effort to resolve the deadlock
over a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G
spectrum scam failed Monday with the opposition rejecting the
government's proposal to have a multi-agency investigating agency
to help the public accounts committee (PAC).
"The stalemate continues," Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) leader Ajit
Singh said after the all-party meeting with Mukherjee.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S.S. Ahluwalia said the
government had proposed to tie an investigative mechanism with the
PAC but the opposition parties rejected it.
"The entire opposition rejected it in one voice," Ahluwalia told
reporters, adding they were firm on the demand for JPC.
Unlike the PAC, the JPC can call a minister and even the prime
minister, he said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj also raised
the issue of corporates trying to influence ministerial
appointments and portforlios, Ahluwalia said.
He said recent disclosures of taped conversations had divulged how
corporates were influencing anchors, writers and journalists to
write in the interest of a person going to benefit a corporate
house.
This issue, in Ahluwalia's view, could be part of the terms of
reference of a parliamentary committee.
At Mukherjee's last meeting with opposition leaders on Nov 15, he
had said he would get back on the JPC demand after consulting
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ahluwalia said.
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Dasgupta said the
"role of the prime minister was in question" and only a JPC could
meed ends of justice.
"PM's inaction has led to colossal loss to exchequer. That can be
looked by JPC," Dasgupta said.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has indicted A. Raja,
who resigned as communications minister over the 2G scandal, said
his policies could have caused a loss of up to Rs.1.76 lakh crore
($40 billion) to the exchequer.
Parliament's winter session that began Nov 9 has witnessed
repeated adjournments over the opposition's insistence for a JPC
probe into the scam, even after Raja, who was at the heart of the
controversy, resigned.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
Comment on this article |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 News Pick |
|
Clairvoyance or Hope? Youth predicts end to Kashmir sufferings
A sharp political mind, hopeful,
clairvoyant...call him what you will. But a Kashmiri youth who had
correctly predicted fresh turmoil in the valley from June now says
permanent peace
» |
Congress
in Kerala may be exulting too soon
A landslide victory in last month's
local elections has heightened the United Democratic Front's (UDF)
hopes of returning to power in Kerala in next year's assembly
elections but the Congress, which heads the alliance, may be
» |
|
Now,
housing scam in Madhya Pradesh
Former Madhya Pradesh lawmaker and Congress leader Prakash
Raghuwansi Sunday alleged a scam in a scheme for allotting flats
to MPs and legislators in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled
state. Sharing
» |
A tale of
another Fidel Castro!
When a 49-year-old native of Cuba took an oath in an American
court and promised to fulfill the duties as a US citizen, the
people present in the court had a hearty laugh - all because the
person's name was Fidel Castro Sotolongo.
Fidel Castro Sotolongo was
» |
|
Asian Games: Three gold
medals lift India to eighth spot
It was a
delightful Sunday for India at the Asian Games with shooter Ronjan
Singh Sodhi and long distance runners Preeja Sreedharan and Sudha
Singh winning gold medals, while a silver and five bronzes during
» |
Over
2,500 kids went missing in Karachi last year
More than 2,500 children were reported as missing in Karachi last
year, an NGO has revealed.
Roshni Helpline, an NGO that deals with childrens' rights, said
that as many as 2,582 children went missing in Karachi and these
» |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick links