NDA attacks PM on 2G, demands JPC
The NDA on Wednesday launched an all-out attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and even sought his resignation on moral grounds if he failed to constitute a JPC in the 2G scam.
Kickstarting the “Parliament to street” campaign, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani stated that the Prime Minister would be the central figure in the two-month-long NDA’s public campaign till the Budget Session of Parliament.
Addressing the “Mahasangram” rally of the NDA at Ramlila ground, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley set the tone by attacking the Prime Minister. “The Prime Minister should not be under any shred of doubt and to come out of it he should appear before the JPC and answer all queries, including his silence over giving telecom portfolio to A. Raja. If you (Prime Minister) cannot face a JPC, then you must quit,” stated Mr Jaitley.
Mr Advani, on the other hand, launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister but stopped short of seeking his resignation. “He (Dr Singh) keeps on waiting for 10, Janpath (residence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi) on all issues. I was told by a Cabinet minister that the Prime Minister had agreed for the JPC probe but later no decision was taken for reasons unknown. It is my last appeal to him to constitute the JPC,” Mr Advani said, adding, “If the Prime Minister did not agree, 2010 would be remembered as the year of corruption and of stinking scams.”
Joining the chorus attacking the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj charged that Dr Singh had direct role in the appointment of “tainted” bureaucrat P.J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner despite her written dissent. “This UPA government has become unpopular in last one year and the whole government is in the dock now,” charged Ms Swaraj.
NDA convenor Sharad Yadav, along with Ms Swaraj, rejected the contention of the Prime Minister that he could appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by saying that only a JPC has a mandate to go into the ills afflicting all the four pillars of the democracy as revealed by the leaked Radia tapes.
The NDA rally was attended by BJP, JD(U), Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders. Mr Advani also informed that rallies in Guwahati, Mumbai, Bhubneswar, Jaipur, Chennai, Kanpur and Rohtak has been scheduled, while the first week of February would be for the NDA workers to reach out to villages on the issue.
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