New Delhi, Dec 9: The CPI(M), which has been castigating Congress for "jettisoning" Parliament functioning by not accepting the demand for JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam, today hit out at BJP, saying it was indulging in "double-speak" on the issue.
"BJP's credibility has gone down considerably in the eyes of the people due to its internal contradictions which are clearly reflected by the varied stands the party and its top leaders are taking on the JPC issue," party leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.
Maintaining that the role of the main opposition BJP was getting "curiouser and curiouser", he said it had not only not taken any action against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on the alleged land scandals, but was also indulging in "double speak" on the JPC issue.
While its senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who heads the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), has started investigating the 2G scam, his party was demanding JPC probe, saying a PAC inquiry would not suffice, Yechury said.
Even former Telecom Minister Arun Shourie was "going against the BJP line by openly advocating that there was no need to have a JPC", he said.
Clearly, the saffron party "does not want a probe into the policy shifts that happened under their government," the CPI(M) leader said, adding that the NDA government had abruptly moved from the policy of 'license fees' to 'revenue sharing' in the telecom sector.
Yechury also lambasted the Congress for not accepting the JPC demand which had led to an entire session of Parliament going waste.
"This has never happened before. The main force jettisoning the session is the Congress ... because of their obdurate refusal to set up JPC probe into the biggest ever scam worth Rs 1.76 lakh crore. Normally when an impasse arises, it is the government which comes out with suggestions to find a way out," the CPI(M) leader said.
He recalled that when NDA was in power, "It was then Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh who used to lead walkouts. A JPC was finally established to probe the Ketan Parikh scam. But this time round, no such initiative has been taken by the UPA government. The Congress is to be blamed for jettisoning the Parliament".
Yechury said the 11 non-BJP opposition parties, including the Left, would chalk out a programme of nationwide protests on the issue in the next few days. These would include rallies and demonstrations in various state capitals.
In an editorial in the forthcoming issue of party organ 'People's Democracy', Yechury said the JPC would not only enquire into the spectrum scam, but suggest measures to plug loopholes in the system so that its "massive manipulation", as in this case, can be prevented. PTI
