By IANS,
New Delhi: The Congress Wednesday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party’s demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation for shooting down a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, saying the government had taken concrete action on allegations of graft.
“On the one hand is the concrete action taken by the Congress, on the other is the false rally and double-speak of the BJP,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said about the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rally here.
Singhvi said that a multi-pronged probe was being conducted in the 2G spectrum scam.
“JPC can at best make recommendations,” he said, adding that the BJP and other opposition parties wanted to indulge in “political grandstanding and keep the pot boiling”.
In a scathing attack on the Congress at the rally at Ramlila grounds, the BJP’s Arun Jaitley asked the prime minister to give up his job if he was not ready to face a JPC probe into the raging spectrum scandal.
The leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha argued that only a JPC would be able to find out why second generation spectrum was allotted at below the market prices in 2008 by the now disgraced DMK leader and former communications minister A. Raja.
Hitting out at the BJP, Singhvi said the main opposition party had not taken action following allegations of nepotism against its Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
He alleged that the BJP had established “new records in corruption” and said that it was the only party in the world whose president was caught on camera taking cash. “Instead of action against the party president, he was given a ticket,” Singhvi said.
Asked about the BJP’s demand for the prime minister’s resignation, Singhvi said it was not the first time the opposition party had attacked Manmohan Singh and made such a demand.
“The PMO (prime minister’s office) is being run in a clear, clean manner,” he asserted.
He termed as “bold, open and transparent” Manmohan Singh’s offer to appear before parliament’s Public Accounts Committee that is examining the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the 2G spectrum issue.
At the NDA rally, BJP leader L.K. Advani said he was making one “final appeal” to Manmohan Singh to accept the JPC demand.
The prime minister has said he had nothing to hide and was ready to face the PAC but was against the formation of a JPC. Both PAC and JPC are made up of MPs from all parties but have varying mandates.