The government is making a last-ditch effort to end the 17-day standoff in parliament over the issue of constituting a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to probe the second generation mobile telephony spectrum scam. But is does not appear to be succeeding.
A worried Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee tried hard on Monday to persuade UPA allies from joining the opposition chorus on JPC and invited them over for a dinner at his residence. But with allies, such as railway minister Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress, who has a clean image, not game, the dinner had to be called off at the last minute.
Since some Left leaders have been linked to corporate lobbyist Nira Radia, who worked for the Tatas in Singur, Mamata is in no mood to compromise. She is fighting a bitter battle with the Left in West Bengal, where assembly elections are due early next year, and does not want to let go of the advantage merely to stay in Rail Bhavan. Her target is Kolkata’s Writers’ Building, the seat of power in West Bengal.
It’s not DMK or the Sharad Pawar-led NCP that is worrying Congress. It’s Mamata who is giving it the jitters.
Meanwhile, Congress fielded a battery of senior leaders, including several Union ministers, to launch a blistering attack on the opposition. Party president Sonia Gandhi deputed Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ambika Soni, Pawan Kumar Bansal, Jairam Ramesh, CP Joshi, Sanjay Nirupam and Satyavrat Chaturvedi, among others, to counter the opposition on TV channels and in other media.
Congress also succeeded in keeping some “secular” parties from joining hands with NDA on the JPC issue. Of the 19 non-UPA non-NDA parties, 11 led by the Left met in parliament to discuss the current crisis. Surprisingly, BSP and SP stayed away. The parties sang the same tune as NDA but it was clear they would not join hands with the BJP-led coalition.
The government was firm. Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “As of now, there is no change in our stand on JPC.”
