Many in the Congress feel that the inclusion of the two BJP leaders in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) would be a conflict of interests and wonder how can a person associated with the telecom policy examine the same policy in the JPC.
There is an argument that these leaders could even be summoned by the JPC to give evidence as people involved in formulating the NDA’s telecom policy and hence their being members of the same JPC would create an awkward situation.
Moreover, the BJP is of the view that since the first-come first-serve policy was cleared by the NDA, going by the Congress argument, all BJP members should rescue themselves.
“By this logic, DMK (former telecom minister A. Raja’s party) should not be a part of the JPC,” said a senior BJP leader. The party feels that the practice of “recusing” oneself is a judicial practice and not a political one. “In a body like the JPC, the members are selected on the basis of their party affiliation and so their stand on issues is not personal but that of the party that they represent,” the senior leader added. When asked about his stand, Mr Sinha said he did not find his being a part of the JPC “inappropriate”.