UPA eats its winter words for JPC spring

The Prime Ministers announcement was welcomed by the Lok Sabha with party leaders from the Opposition ranks thanking him for taking steps to end the impasse. However,Arun Jaitley,leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha,was critical of the Prime Ministers remarks.

Prime Minister Singh invoked the Indian commitment to democratic norms and consensual approach in agreeing to the JPC demand. We are a functioning democracy and must strive to resolve our differences in a spirit of accommodation,not confrontation. This,I hope,will renew our confidence in Indias forward march. I am,therefore,requesting the honourable Speaker to proceed with the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee. A formal motion will be moved soon, he said.

The government,though,was still in the process of working out the contours of the JPC,its size and terms of reference,senior UPA functionaries said. Initially,there appeared to be a view that the committee should have 21 members but by this evening smaller parties like the AIADMK had begun pressuring to increase it so that they,too,could be on board.

Should the demand be conceded,the JPC could have 31 members,UPA sources said. The AIADMK floor leader M Thambidurai,who raised the matter on the floor of the House,met parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal in the evening to demand inclusion. The government will also have to zero down on a senior member,from the Lok Sabha,to head the JPC.

Admitting that it had to give in to Opposition demands,the Prime Minister maintained that the UPA leadership was not able to persuade the Opposition not to insist on a JPC. We could not succeed in spite of our sincere efforts. We can ill afford a situation where Parliament is not allowed to function during the crucial budget session. It is in these special circumstances that our government agrees to the setting up a JPC, he said.

During the last session,Singh as well as other senior UPA functionaries including leader of the house,Pranab Mukherjee,had rejected the demand for a JPC,saying it was not necessary. They had then held that the Public Accounts Committee PAC was the right forum with the Prime Minister even offering to appear before the panel.

However,he indicated that the government change in stand was effected because of the loss the nation had to incur because of parliament not functioning. In paralyzing parliament,I believe,we all do disservice to those who have elected us, the PM said.

Though the BJP was appreciative of the Prime Ministers initiative in the Lok Sabha,it took a contrary position in the Rajya Sabha. Jaitley said he was disappointed with the content of the Prime Ministers speech,adding that it would have been better had the issue been resolved in a more gracious manner than in such a tasteless manner with the government asserting it had done everything and that a JPC was not necessary.

Jaitleys observations sparked off some commotion with the treasury benches raising objections.

In the lower House,though,Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj not only welcomed the Prime Ministers statement but said that the decision to set up a JPC only underlined the strength of Indian democracy in finding a way out of any impasse or difficult situation. It is not a question of victory or defeat of the Opposition and the government but collective victory of democracy, she said.

She was joined by other leaders including SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Basudeb Acharya of the CPM,Gurudas Dasgupta of the CPI in appreciating the governments move,even though they maintained that the decision should have been taken in the last session itself.

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