New Delhi: The government could be making
the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam a big affair
to accommodate as many parties as possible.
Government circles say that the effort is to make it a
"broad-based committee".
Deputy leader of BJP in Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, as also
other opposition party members, have also made a similar
demand suggesting that the committee could be of more than 30
members to adjust smaller parties.
The talk is also that a Union Minister could be asked to
join and head the committee but there is no confirmation on
this matter as yet.
B Shankeranand had resigned as Cabinet Minister in the
Rajiv Gandhi government to head the JPC on Bofors scandal.
Sources said that if the JPC could be a 30-member affair
then it would comprise 20 members from the Lok Sabha and 10
from the Rajya Sabha. If the Committee is set up with 21
members, then 14 will be from the Lower House and 7 from the
Upper House.
If the size of the JPC is kept small, it could give
representation only seven to nine major parties. Congress,
BJP, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, JD-U and DMK
could get the membership in view of their numbers. There are a
total of 37 parties in Parliament.
In such a situation the AIADMK, which has been in the
forefront of the demand for a JPC, is unlikely to be a member
in view of lack of strength in Parliament and similar will be
the fate of NCP, National Conference and Muslim League,
despite being members of the ruling UPA.
PTI
