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Former finance minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha tells Gyan Varma that it is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s responsibility to clear his position before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the 2G spectrum scam. Edited excerpts:
Why is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not coming before the JPC? Also, there is little unanimity within the JPC on calling the PM.
It is not a question of unanimity. As I had said in my first letter to the prime minister, he himself should offer to come before the JPC. He should insist that he wants to appear, like he did as far as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is concerned. He knew full well, when he made the offer to the PAC, that the PAC cannot call ministers. The only parliamentary committee that can call ministers, including the PM, is the JPC and he has run away from the JPC. Now that former telecom minister A Raja has levelled very serious charges against him, isn’t it the responsibility of the PM to clear his position both inside and outside Parliament? If the PM keeps quiet, it is ample evidence that Raja is right and the PM is wrong and also that the PM was fully involved in the 2G spectrum scam.
The draft report of the JPC on 2G spectrum was selectively leaked to the media. The meeting is scheduled for today; what will be the BJP’s stand. Who do you think leaked the report?
The draft report of the JPC was leaked by the JPC chairman. It is on this ground that I have already filed a breach privilege notice before the Lok Sabha Speaker. They wanted the report to be leaked because the whole purpose of this report is political, to blame the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and give a clean chit to the present government.
Members of the JPC didn’t receive the report, even though the Lok Sabha secretariat had called to say that the report had been sent. Why was there a delay in sending the draft JPC report to members? Most members received the draft report after the media.
Besides the leaking of the report to the media, this is another charge I have levelled against JPC chairman, P C Chacko. Members received the report either late on the evening of April 18 or on the morning on April 19. I received the report on April 19. The report was not only leaked but handed over to select sections of the media.
Without the help of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not be able to get the draft JPC report rejected in the meeting. Is the BJP leadership holding discussions with these parties? What is the response?
We are in touch with all like-minded parties who feel that laws of natural justice have been violated. We expect their support for the rejection of the draft report.
The government is trying to build a consensus on the Land Acquisition Bill and the Food Security Bill. But there is a stalemate between government and the BJP for blaming the NDA government in the 2G report. What is the way out of this?
The government is in government because it is in the majority. So, let them use their majority and get whichever Bill they want to pass. Why do they need the support of the BJP?
If the government needs the support of the BJP, then the support is not temporary. It is a support which represents a state of mind. You cannot lambast us whenever you want to and then say please support us on the Bills.
On the issue of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and members of the PMO interfering in the coal scam report of the CBI, do you think Dr. Manmohan Singh was aware of this interference? The BJP has asked for his resignation.
The Prime Minister of India, I can tell from personal experience, is aware of everything. For anyone to say that the prime minister was unaware, for anyone to say he was not in the know of things, is something which is unacceptable to me. The prime minister is the best informed person in the whole country.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram had met senior leaders before the Budget Session on the Insurance and PFRDA Bills, but then, there were no further meetings, not even during the one month break. Why did the government lose the momentum?
I really don’t know. There were no meetings with the opposition either during the first half of the budget session or during the recess. He (Chidambaram) had met the two leaders of opposition before the budget session.
