Unable to make expelled leader Jaswant Singh step down as chief of the Public Accounts Committee, the BJP and allies like the Shiv Sena and the Swantantra Bharat Paksh on Monday skipped the first PAC meeting of Parliament.
Unfazed by the boycott, Singh said ?I am sure they will participate? in the next meeting. He said 15 of the 22 members of the PAC attended the meeting. ?We had a very good first meeting,? Singh said.
Representatives of the BJP, Shiv Sena and SBP kept away in protest against Singh?s continuance as PAC chairman despite being asked to step down. ?We stayed away as it was the NDA directive,? said Anandrao Adsul, Sena representative in PAC.
But JD(U) MP NK Singh attended the meeting. BJP MPs Yashwant Sinha, Gopinath Munde, Shanta Kumar and Narayan Singh Kesari and Sharad Joshi (SBP) were among those who stayed away. Sinha and Munde cited prior engagements as the reason for not attending the meeting.
After the meeting, the BJP made a public request to Jaswant Singh to quit as chief of the House panel. ?Jaswant Singh?s view that he will quit only if the Speaker asks him to do so is not right. We are a party democracy. The appointment is made by the Speaker on the recommendation of a party. Since the PAC chairperson post goes to the main Opposition, it would be better if he steps down,? said Sushma Swaraj, BJP deputy leader in Lok Sabha.
?He had called the meeting (of PAC) today and we boycotted it,? she said. ?On August 31, I met Jaswant Singh and requested him personally that while keeping his seniority in mind, the post of PAC chairman was offered to him, he should now step down as the situation has changed. He refused. I thought we should wait as he is still angry. But today I am making a public request that he should quit.?
Asked what the party strategy would be in case Singh does not resign and whether BJP and its allies would continue to boycott PAC proceedings, Sushma Swaraj said, ?I am making a request now. The norm is to wait after a request is made. We will wait and see.?