Both stuck to their position on the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2 G scam. The opposition and the government disappointed the public by not adopting a give and take policy but the rigidity is not going to pay in the long run as the issues are not going to go away. Chickens always come home to roost. If the political parties do not care about squandering public money there is bound to be more sessions like this.

Why is the government shying away from setting up a JPC? No proper explanation has come from the government or the Congress in this regard.

If the government has hardened its stand, the opposition too is equally adamant on accepting any other option. Reminding of the Bofors days, both are behaving in an uncompromising manner and the loss is to the exchequer, which is estimated to be more than Rs.150 crores.

The Congress has taken a conscious decision, even as it is under pressure from its UPA allies like Trinamool Congress and DMK (Both Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are going for Assembly polls next year) for considering a JPC. They would rather avoid corruption as a poll issue.

Why does the opposition want a JPC and why the government does not? The parliamentary history shows that the opposition smells a rat when it finds that there is some prima facie case for demanding a JPC. The record shows that the outcome of Parliament’s earlier JPCs had been not very successful on both establishing what had happened and punishing the guilty.

The Congress had setup two JPCs and the NDA had its share of two. In 1987, Parliament witnessed uproarious scenes resulting in the formation of a JPC, which was boycotted by the Opposition. Ultimately, the opposition rejected the JPC report and resigned en masse in 1989, a few months before the Lok Sabha polls.

The JPC setup to inquire into the Harshad Mehta stocks scam in 1992 did not succeed in its purpose. While Harshad Mehta was given a four-year sentence in 1999, the recommendations of the JPC were neither accepted in full nor implemented. However the government recovered the money owed by Mehta by selling his shares in the market.

The 2001 Ahmedabad share market scam involving Ketan Parekh resulted in formation of a JPC during the NDA rule. This too recommended sweeping changes in stock market regulations but they were diluted later but the money was recovered. The 2003 Cola JPC headed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar also did not pinpoint the defects in the system.

The government has said no to the JPC demand as most governments did earlier. With a four hundred plus majority the Rajiv Gandhi government learnt a lesson on the Bofors JPC. The usual tactics of the government is to resist the demand as long as possible just as the NDA did on the Kargil coffin scam or Tehelka.

Secondly, the Congress fears that the issue may be kept alive by the opposition for several months when the JPC would look into it and may lead to embarrassing media leaks.

Thirdly, there is an apprehension that a JPC could summon the Prime Minister but this may or may not happen. The JPCs formed on Harshad Mehta case and Ketan Parekh securities scam show that although they wanted to summon the then Prime Ministers, the idea was dropped and instead the Finance Ministers were called.

Fourthly, the real reason could be that the UPA may be in a minority in a JPC because of the strange arithmetic. According to the Congress calculations, in a 30 member JPC, the party may get just 14 members as the UPA has now 259 out of 545 as the others like the SP and the BSP support from outside. In the Raja Sabha the UPA has only 91 out of 243. Ultimately, the two regional parties SP and BSP may hold the key, which the Congress wants to avoid.

The opposition is getting ready to take the corruption issue to the streets as elections to half a dozen assemblies are scheduled for next year. Secondly, this would give an opportunity for the left, right and centrist parties to come together on an issue which affects the public. They are planning for Bharat bandh, demonstrations and rallies. Thirdly, the opposition can keep the issue alive even in the next budget session and continue to stall the house. Fourthly the opposition argues that a JPC had wider powers than a PAC.

Parliament had been paralyzed on several occasions in all these years but is it good for democracy? There are so many vital issues like floods, price rise, inflation and even some of the laws are not debated. While it is true that the opposition has a right to demonstrate in the house there are other ways of making a point. Increasingly the members seem to believe that walking out and running to the well of the house give them media attention rather than making a good speech. While the Congress is talking of no work no pay concept, it needs a reform to bring in this culture. The government, on the other hand should realise that it is the job of the ruling party to run the house.

The winter session shows that there is lapse on the part of the government as well as opposition as they could have always found a via media. There should be some efforts to run the Parliament at least during the budget session rather than choosing the easy option of freezing it. (IPA Service)