PM offer to appear before PAC doesnt devalue his office: Cong

The party also held that the Prime Ministers offer to appear before the PAC on the 2G issue.

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

Holding that the opposition BJP had no right to preach when they themselves never took any steps against corruption,the Congress on Wednesday squarely rejected their demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh step down from office on moral grounds for refusing a JPC to look into irregular allotments of 2G spectrum.

The party also held that the Prime Ministers offer to appear before the PAC on the 2G issue would neither lead to devaluation of the office of the highest executive nor did it mean that the government had conceded partially to the Opposition demand. There is no question of devaluing by offering to appear voluntarily. He PM showed respect on a voluntary basis, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.

It is a personal sentiment in a certain context. He is under no legal obligation. He is not setting precedents. It is to show to the people that he has nothing to hide and the continued obstruction of Parliament was a gimmick, he added.

Singhs offer to depose before the PAC has raised eyebrows in the Congress itself,with some wondering if it would expose the high office of the PM to scrutiny by parliamentary committees. There was also a view that it might not be completely in sync with the partys stand on the issue that the Oppositions sole aim behind demanding JPC was to call PM before it and that the party should not allow any denigration of the high institution.

The NDA,which held a rally on Wednesday in the capital,however,maintained that the PM had lost the moral ground as he was evading a JPC and should now resign from his post.

Lashing out at the BJP for raising the matter when they themselves never preached what they practised,Singhvi said champions of inaction on corruption are preaching it to those who have declared a war on corruption.

How can the BJP a Bangaru-Judeo Party have a rally against corruption, he charged. Both Bangaru Laxman,a former BJP president and Dilip Singh Judeo,a senior tribal leader from Chhattisgarh,have been caught on camera accepting wads of notes. It was a rally by hypocrites who have got their names registered in the Guinness Book of Records for their expertise in Parliamentary disruptions, he alleged.