It was a rare moment in the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP): Lal Krishna Advani coming up in support of his colleague Murali Manohar Joshi. Although the two veterans are not known to be best friends, but soon after the PAC meeting was adjourned following disruptions by UPA members, the BJP leadership huddled together at Advani’s residence. It decided to firmly back Joshi against the onslaught on the UPA.
Joshi also held a rare meeting with Advani seeking advice on his future course of action. After consulting leaders like Advani and Yashwant Sinha, Joshi decided to submit the draft report to the Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and address the media. He also decided not to seek an appointment with Kumar and instead choose to send the report to her residence through a messenger.
The BJP-led opposition camp has decided to take the issue to the streets. The saffron party is planning a series of rallies and street protests on the issue of corruption and how the Congress is allegedly trying to scuttle probes. Its erstwhile partner BJD’s youth wing — the Biju Yuva Janta Dal (BYJD) — has already started a statewide campaign in Odisha since Friday.
Meanwhile, a section of the BJP is of the view that all members of the party should resign from various parliamentary committees to express solidarity with Joshi and developments that lead to adjournment of PAC. “When the PAC started its probe, I was considered as a senior, learned and unbiased leader, even the Prime Minister was ready to appear before the committee. Suddenly I have become an evil!” Joshi.
SUSHMA WANTS REPORT LEAK PROBED
Meanwhile, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday demanded a probe into the leak of the draft report of PAC on the 2G spectrum scam, to the media.
“The government should order an inquiry to find out the source behind the leakage of PAC report,” the senior BJP leader said in Mangalore. She dismissed as ‘baseless’ the allegations levelled against PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi that he was responsible for the leakage of the report to the media.