As the deadlock in Parliament entered its 17th day with barely a week left in this session, the Congress was under increasing pressure from its allies to accept the Opposition?s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was slated to meet UPA partners later tonight before taking a call on this issue.
The Congress isn?t inclined to give in conscious of the fact that it could be in a minority in the JPC. It also fears that the JPC could go on for ?two to three years? casting a shadow on the 2014 elections as also on the ensuing Assembly elections in different states.
And that this could keep the ?scam? pot boiling. Moreover, there is always the chance of the Opposition trying to target the Prime Minister by involving him or his office in the course of the JPC probe.
Yet, there is ?tremendous pressure? from its allies to set up a JPC.
As The Indian Express had first reported, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee had an open mind on the JPC given that she is under pressure from the Left in her state on the spectrum scam.
?The more we resist a JPC, the more it signals we are hiding something,? said a TMC leader.
The UPA government?s stand has been that as per Constitutional provisions, the CAG report on the 2G spectrum allocation has to be referred to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The government also offered to the Opposition that a multi-disciplinary investigative agency could be attached with the PAC to assist it. The Opposition has rejected these proposals.
Allies have argued that it?s better to have a JPC headed by a ruling party leader than a PAC headed by an Opposition leader, said sources.
Leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, the DMK and the National Conference were also learnt to have argued in favour of a JPC in their deliberations with Mukherjee in the past few days. NCP chief Sharad Pawar conveyed this to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well, said NCP sources.