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The meeting of the JPC on the 2G scam tomorrow is set to be a stormy affair as the panel readies to adopt its controversial draft report which gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and indicted former Telecom Minister A. Raja.
In an embarrassment for the Congress, its key UPA ally NCP has also demanded calling Raja as a witness, saying it is only fair to listen to a person who has been blamed in the draft report.
By demanding that Raja be called as a witness, it has joined the Opposition parties, including the BJP, the Left, DMK and JD (U) over the issue.
“It is the opinion of the party. We have registered our opinion to the JPC. But we do not wish to make it into an issue. We have told the committee our stand,” the sole NCP member in the panel Y. P. Trivedi told PTI.
Senior DMK member and sole representative of his party in the Committee, T. R. Baalu, while demanding that the former Telecom Minister be called as a witness, has also demanded examining fresh documents before adopting the report.
Raja was a Cabinet Minister in the UPA Government from the DMK quota.
The JD(U), which has two members in the JPC, today said while it favours calling Raja as a witness, it is against calling the Prime Minister before the panel — a demand made by the BJP and the Left.
Party chief Sharad Yadav, who is a JPC member, said he “may not be able to attend” tomorrow’s meeting as he came to know about the date after his programmes in Bihar were chalked out.
Battle lines have been drawn for the meeting as BJP and Left members are all set to oppose the draft report by either giving strong notes of dissent or even demanding a vote.
The Committee has 12 members of the ruling UPA — Congress (11) and NCP (1). Among its outside allies, SP has one member and BSP two.
The Opposition camp has the BJP (6), BJD (1), TMC (1), CPI (1), CPI—M (1), DMK (1) and AIADMK (1). The JD(U), which recently split with the BJP, has two members and the party’s stand will be crucial.
Besides, there is one nominated member from the Rajya Sabha.
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