NEW DELHI, Apr 21:
Opposition is all set to corner the Government in Parliament which resumes tomorrow after a recess with BJP and other parties deciding to raise the “deliberate leak” of the JPC draft report on the 2G scam and the reported vetting by the Law Ministry of the CBI report on coalgate.
A political storm has already broken out with an agitated opposition alleging that the report on 2G is a “cover up” and has been prepared to give a clean chit to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Political temperatures are high with former Telecom Minister A Raja claiming that all decisions on the 2G spectrum issue were taken in consultation with the Prime Minister and BJP accusing Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Chairman P C Chacko of trying to save the Government.
Raja is the main accused in the scam and had sought an opportunity to depose before JPC, which was denied. Raja is from DMK, which parted ways with UPA recently.
The opposition has been maintaining that the “deliberate leak” amounted to breach of parliamentary privilege and is seeking a probe into it.
NDA is angry over the draft JPC report on 2G scam, particularly the references to the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and some other ministers in his Government.
This might come in the way of passage of some key bills that UPA is hoping to push through during the remaining part of the session which is scheduled to end on May 10.
Though the Government just succeeded in getting BJP’s support for the Land Acquisition Bill, which has been hanging for the past six years, Left parties are opposed to it.
The issue of alleged interference by the Government in the preparation of the CBI report on coal block allocation scam for the Supreme Court is another major issue on which the Left and the Right have made a common cause.
BJP has been demanding resignation of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar in the wake of reports that he had summoned the CBI chief after which the report on the scam was “toned down”.
Congress has rejected the charge of interference and has ruled out resignation of the Law Minister.
In a bid to ensure there is no repeat of chaos of the first part of the session, a distressed Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari today mooted automatic suspension of disorderly members and naming them in a House bulletin but there was no political consensus.
The moves were made by Ansari at an all-party meeting convened by him to ensure smooth proceedings in the Upper House. He also mooted deferred telecast of the proceedings but it did not get the backing.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister and senior members from various parties.
BJP President Rajnath Singh expressed strong resentment over the JPC report which has given a clean chit to the Prime Minister and Chidambaram in the 2G issue.
What has drawn the ire of BJP even more is the allegation in the report that the telecom policy of the erstwhile Vajpayee Government had led to a huge loss to the exchequer.
Left parties are also unhappy with the report and have decided to vent their displeasure in Parliament, which meets after a break of four weeks.
Reports of the Law Ministry vetting and making changes in the CBI report – which was to be submitted to the Supreme Court directly – on the coal scam has also miffed both BJP and the Left parties.
Opposition has alleged that the scam goes right up to the doorstep of the PMO and it would not let go this opportunity to put the Government on the mat.
The Government is, however, hopeful of convincing opposition parties and getting the Food Security Bill, Insurance and Pensions Bills passed.
A meeting of the NDA floor leaders chaired by L K Advani made it clear that the Government cannot expect NDA to come to its rescue in matters of legislative business.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, whose party NCP is now the second largest in UPA after Congress, has already cautioned the Government to tread with care.
He has said the second part of the Budget session will be critical for the Government because several money bills have to be passed and “every day could be a test for its survival.”
The brutal rape of a five-year-old girl in Delhi is likely to be raised in a big way, with BJP leader Sushma Swaraj demanding capital punishment in child rape cases and in cases involving brutality and barbarity while making the new anti-rape law more stringent.
The Government may also have to keep SP and BSP in good humour as it is dependent on the outside support of these two parties, together accounting for 43 members in the Lok Sabha, after DMK walked out of the UPA coalition.
With the Finance Bill and some Demands for Grants still to be passed, the Government would not like to take any risk.
SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has been threatening to part ways with UPA on one pretext or the other.
In an apparent move to keep the SP happy, the Union Cabinet recently cleared Rs 4,400 crore for the backward Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, which is facing drought.
Former UPA ally TMC may also create uproar in both the Houses on the incident involving West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Planning Commission here when she had to face angry protesters from the Left activists. (PTI)
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