Kolkata:
Union Finance Minister and Congress troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday made an appeal to the Opposition to end the deadlock over their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe in to the 2G scam and discuss the issue.
"Entire Winter Session has been completely washed out without any work. This is unfortunate. I appeal to them, to please come and discuss. They are demanding JPC. CBI is already investigating, Enforcement Directorate is also investigating. Therefore I do not find any logic or justification for JPC. They should come back to the sessions. They should bring back normalcy and co-operate. We are already ready to discuss any eventuality," he said.
He hoped "better sense" will prevail upon the Opposition and the logjam witnessed in the Winter Session of Parliament will not spill over to the Budget Session in February. "I don't hope so. I hope better sense will prevail," Mukherjee told reporters.
The Opposition has rejected the offer of Mukherjee - also the Leader of the House in Lok Sabha - to hold a special session of Parliament ahead of the Budget Session to discuss the issue.
It is that insistence on a JPC that led to a complete freeze between the government and Opposition in the Winter Session which finished earlier this month - with less than 10 hours of business transacted.
The 2G scam has been used by the Opposition to attack the government and in particular the Prime Minister for shielding corruption. The Opposition wants a JPC, which would consist of members of different political parties, to conduct a formal inquiry into the scam. However, the government has so far maintained that this is not required because several inquiries by the CBI and agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are already in progress.
"Entire Winter Session has been completely washed out without any work. This is unfortunate. I appeal to them, to please come and discuss. They are demanding JPC. CBI is already investigating, Enforcement Directorate is also investigating. Therefore I do not find any logic or justification for JPC. They should come back to the sessions. They should bring back normalcy and co-operate. We are already ready to discuss any eventuality," he said.
He hoped "better sense" will prevail upon the Opposition and the logjam witnessed in the Winter Session of Parliament will not spill over to the Budget Session in February. "I don't hope so. I hope better sense will prevail," Mukherjee told reporters.
The Opposition has rejected the offer of Mukherjee - also the Leader of the House in Lok Sabha - to hold a special session of Parliament ahead of the Budget Session to discuss the issue.
It is that insistence on a JPC that led to a complete freeze between the government and Opposition in the Winter Session which finished earlier this month - with less than 10 hours of business transacted.
The 2G scam has been used by the Opposition to attack the government and in particular the Prime Minister for shielding corruption. The Opposition wants a JPC, which would consist of members of different political parties, to conduct a formal inquiry into the scam. However, the government has so far maintained that this is not required because several inquiries by the CBI and agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are already in progress.
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