BJP intensifies its demand for JPC probe on Raja

Deputy leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia made it clear during his interaction with mediapersons on Saturday that his party would settle for nothing less than a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in the 2G telecom scam.

"It is more than evident that the pressure put by the BJP and other partners of the National Democratic Alliance has forced A Raja to resign as minister for communications. We demanded his resignation on Friday and late on Sunday night he handed over the resignation to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. I know for a fact that he signed his resignation in presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief Karunanidhi and when he boarded the plane for Delhi the letter was in his pocket," Ahluwalia said.

Asked if BJP would attend all party meet, he said that the party would attend the meet but would not settle for anything less than a joint parliamentary probe.

Ahluwalia chided some journalists for 'trying to put questions at the behest of the Congress party' when a scribe asked what was the need to have JPC probe when the Public Accounts Committee is headed by BJP leader Dr Murali Mnohar Joshi.

In another press conference in Patna, the BJP claimed that a prima facie case can be established against former telecom minister A Raja regarding his complicity in the 2G spectrum scam in the wake of his resignation.

"A prima facie case has been established against Raja following his resignation in the controversial sale of 2G spectrum to cause a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crores to the state exchequer," BJP national spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy told mediapersons in Patna.

However, the former minister must not be allowed to get away from his role in the 2G spectrum scam even after quitting his ministerial post, he said and demanded registration of a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Raja.

The BJP leader also sought to drag Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the controversy asking him to explain the reasons for continuation of a 'tainted' minister in his government.

"What compulsions that the prime minister had in keeping the 2G spectrum scam-tainted minister in his government for so long in spite of claiming a clean image for himself," Rudy said.

With inputs from PTI