Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday sought to weaken the Opposition?s ?obdurate? demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam by expressing his willingness to appear before the public accounts committee on the matter. Singh?s gesture, unprecedented as no Prime Minister has ever deposed before the PAC, was aimed at turning the tables on the Opposition, but it nevertheless implied that the latter?s barb had in fact found its mark.
At the 83rd plenary session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), Singh announced that he was prepared to appear before a PAC probe on the matter ?even though there is no precedent?. ?The BJP has been falsely propagating that the UPA government is against the JPC because we do not want the Prime Minister to be questioned by a parliamentary committee, thereby implying that I have something to hide. I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large and as proof of my bonafides, I intend to write to the chairman of the PAC that I shall be happy to appear before the PAC if it chooses to ask me to do so,? Singh said in a rather aggressive tone.
AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh described the Prime Minister?s offer as a ?master stroke? but the the Opposition was unimpressed. ?It is a matter of concern for the nation when the Prime Minister says ?I have nothing to hide?. If you have nothing to hide, then please answer upfront and not at a forum of your own choosing. The Prime Minister cannot answer before an auditor or the PAC. It is the JPC which must look into these matters. The Prime Minister is hiding something,? said Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
In his speech, the PM continued to build a case against the JPC while at the same time conceding that the ?like Caeser?s wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion, which is why I am prepared to appear before the PAC even though there is no precedent?.
Some Congress leaders also felt that the Prime Minister?s offer could also be interpreted as the government?s acknowledgement that the Opposition?s campaign had achieved some success.
?After holding out the entire Winter Session on the JPC, what was the need to offer to appear in front of the PAC,? asked a senior Congress leader. From Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speeches, it was obvious that the AICC plenary had been taken over by the overwhelming issue of corruption and graft. On a day when former telecom minister A Raja was summoned by the CBI for questioning, the Congress it seems could think of nothing else.