The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it was ready to cooperate with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on crucial issues if the government showed sincerity in fighting corruption and reaching out to the Opposition on the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
Yesterday, the UPA government and the BJP had agreed the winter session of Parliament would be held according to schedule.
BJP leaders feel the government should “reach out” to opposition parties and discuss issues related to the recent coal block allocation scam, the 2G telecom spectrum allocation probe by the joint parliamentary committee (JPC), FDI in retail and corruption allegations against Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
“There would be very little time for parliamentary proceedings because of the elections, but BJP is ready to cooperate with the government if they (the government) try to reach out to the Opposition on the issues of corruption and FDI in retail, as only nine states have agreed to it. A Congress-ruled state like Kerala, too, is opposed to the decision. The entire Parliament, except the Congress party, is not in favour of FDI in multi-brand retail,” said a BJP leader.
BJP leaders argue Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had gone back on his statement that he could appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation. “The UPA government knew according to the procedure, ministers can’t appear before the PAC, and the JPC was only place where some exceptions could be made. But neither the prime minister nor the finance minister are ready to appear before JPC as witnesses. The whole purpose of the JPC is defeated if it is not allowed to find the truth and ascertain what went wrong in the 2G spectrum scam,” the BJP leader added.
BJP leaders are also willing to support a no-confidence motion against the government by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the issue of FDI in retail. However, it is not in favour of bringing a no confidence motion on its own.
“There are crucial financial and economic Bills pending before the Union government. The Land Acquisition Bill might also be brought. We are ready for a discussion. But the Union government should show some commitment to fight corruption if it wants the support of the BJP and the NDA,” the BJP leader said.
