Half of JPC members reject 2G report

MPs, constituting half of the 30-member panel, belong to BJP, JD(U), CPI-M, CPI, AIADMK, DMK, BJD and TMC

Fifteen Opposition members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G telecom spectrum scam on Wednesday wrote to the committee secretariat, rejecting the panel’s draft report.

The 15 members, who had met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar last week to express “no-confidence” in panel chief P C Chacko, wrote separate letters on Wednesday, stating they were rejecting the report “in toto”.   

These MPs, constituting half the 30-member panel, belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Janata Dal (United), CPI-M, CPI, AIADMK, DMK, the Biju Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress. BJP member Yashwant Sinha said the members reiterated in their letters their no-trust in Chacko.

Sinha denied reports that the speaker has informed the Opposition she did not have the mandate to remove the JPC chief and replace him with another member, a demand made by these 15.  

This development is set to deepen the standoff in the JPC, coming as it does in the wake of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj's outburst against UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the Speaker.  

The demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on the coal mines allocation issue and vetting of the CBI report on it is the other issue being raised by the Opposition.