Author: Special Correspondent
Publication: The Hindu
Date: February 3, 2011
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2011/02/03/stories/2011020366950100.htm
The Opposition parties on Wednesday made it
clear that they had not dropped their demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee
(JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam despite the arrest of the
former Communications Minister, A. Raja.
The Congress pointedly stated that action
had been taken and would continue to be taken as per the law.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party's Arun Jaitley
felt that the government had no option as it came under relentless pressure
from the Opposition, the courts and public opinion, Congress spokesperson
Abhishek Singhvi retorted that the BJP was clearly oblivious of the pressure
or conscience in relation to corruption charges against its Karnataka Chief
Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.
General secretary of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) Prakash Karat hoped the case would be pursued to its logical
conclusion "to recover lost revenue" and "uncover the way the
whole system was manipulated."
D. Raja of the CPI viewed Mr. Raja's arrest
as "just the beginning" that could "trigger questions"
related to the role of previous Telecom Ministers and of the Prime Minister's
Office in the scandal.
The BJP lamented that three years were lost
without any action despite repeated attempts by the Opposition to draw the
government's attention to the wrongful allocation of spectrum in 2007-08.
The Congress, however, viewed Mr. Raja's arrest
as indicating the Centre's zero tolerance of corruption. It said the BJP was
shouting hoarse but had no intention of doing any cleaning up in its own States.
