The confrontation between the Congress party and the Opposition over corruption is set to spill over to the streets from Parliament.
The Congress today unleashed its first attack on the Opposition, citing the role of telecom ministers during NDA rule. The party is working overtime to prepare documents to nail the NDA. The opposition parties are also gearing up for street protests and other programmes to question the government’s reluctance to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee in probing the 2G spectrum controversy.
The Congress today questioned former telecom minister Pramod Mahajan’s decision to allot 1.8 Mhz spectrum to mobile operators at one per cent of the gross income. It also questioned why Arun Shourie, who succeeded Mahajan, reduced the licence fee for mobile operators. “We want to know if these decisions were taken in public interest or corporate interest,” said party spokesman Manish Tiwari.
Sources in the party said new Communications Minister Kapil Sibal had been asked to prepare documents to expose the policy loopholes of the NDA regime.
To keep up the pressure on the government to set up a JPC probe, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to hold rallies along with other NDA partners to raise corruption issues surrounding the Commonwealth Games, Adarsh Housing Society and 2G spectrum. The BJP is expected to announce the dates on December 9, after its top leadership meets.
The self proclaimed “secular” opposition or the erstwhile Third Front will also chart its own course, with the Left parties deciding to hit the streets. They have planned protest weeks on the larger issue of corruption, including the 2G scam.