Opposition protest in Parliament not aimed at overthrowing govt: BJP

Terming as "unprecedented" the washout of Parliament's winter session, BJP today blamed the Congress for the stalemate over demand for joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the second-generation mobile telephony spectrum scam but said the opposition protest was not aimed at overthrowing the government.

BJP leader LK Advani said the opposition did not demand mid-term polls and such suggestions were in fact given by a minister in the government. He, however, refused to name the minister.

"Some parties may be welcoming mid-term polls but why an MP, who has been elected for five years, would like curtailment of his term," Advani said making it clear that the opposition's campaign against corruption in Parliament did not aim at throwing out the government.

Talking to reporters, the senior BJP leader said, "This is first time that the entire session was washed out on one issue... It was triggered off by the Congress. It has been isolated on the issue both inside and outside Parliament not only by the opposition but even by its own allies".

Advani made the remarks after a meeting of the NDA partners to finalise their strategy for the alliance campaign against the government on the issue of corruption.

Vowing to take the "fight against corruption" from Parliament to the street, the NDA's working chairman said the alliance will organise country-wide rallies against corruption.

A rally in Delhi will be held on December 22 and in Mumbai on January 16.

Slamming the government for putting the blame on the opposition for the wash out of the session, Advani said neither Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor Congress president Sonia Gandhi could offer any "convincing and credible reason" on why they did not accept the JPC demand.

Terming the 2G mobile bandwidth as "a multi-dimensional scam", Advani alleged that while the country wanted to know who were its beneficiaries, the government did not want that this information should not reach people.

He said that he would still appeal to the government to accept JPC.

The BJP leader said the government would not have taken action against former telecom minister A Raja, former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi in connection with the cases of 2G spectrum, Adarsh Housing Society and CWG Games irregularities had the opposition not adopted a "tough posture".