Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has told the leaders of the opposition parties that he would convey their sentiments to prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh and get back to them in a couple of hours, after the luncheon meeting called to resolve the impasse over the 2G spectrum scam was deadlocked.
The second luncheon meeting called by Mukherjee in last fifteen days, was attended by Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Anthony and minister of state in the finance ministry Palani Mannikam from the government side, while leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj led the opposition parties.
Sitaram Yechury and Gurudas Dasgupta from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Mulayam Singh Yadav from the Samajwadi party, who left early to address a press conference and D Raja from the CPI were some of the opposition leders who attended the meeting.
"We have rejected the government's proposal to empower the Public Accounts Committee headed by Dr Murali Manohar Joshi to have a multi-disciplinary investigating agency to investigate all matters relating to 2G scam. This is not acceptable to us," Sushma Swaraj told rediff.com.
Firebrand CPM leader Gurudas Dasgupta said according to the government the multidisciplinary agency would consist of The Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax and Enforcement Directorate.
"I cannot understand how can PAC do this job as it cannot question either the Prime minister or the PMO about anything. Whereas the JPC can probe into the policy decisions, call for the files from the department and even question the prime minister", Dasgupta told rediff.com.
Interestingly, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam which was also represented in the meeting did not oppose the opposition's demand of setting up a JPC claimed a senior leader who had attended the meeting.
Talking about admissions made by the government in an affidivit filed before the Supreme Court on Friday, Gurudas Dasgupta said that Prime minister Singh had admitted that he (Dasgupta) had written a letter to him."In that I had given details how the money was being looted. Instead of taking action against A Raja and restraining him for plundering public exchequer, the PM handed the letter to the accused person," Dasgupta said.