JPC probe: Government in two minds

With Parliament paralysed by the opposition for the entire winter session so far over its demand for a joint parliamentary committee investigation into the 2G spectrum allocation and other alleged scams, an increasingly testy government on Friday said that it is not averse to the idea of a ''genuine'' JPC probe, but is certainly against the ''political motive'' of the opposition.

This motive, according to parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal, is to drag the prime minister's office into the probe. ''Their desire is not to unearth corruption, but to wage a political battle to demean and insult the PMO. Since it's a political battle, we'll fight it politically,'' he said.

The government, Bansal pointed out, twice tried to find a middle ground to resolve the crisis, but the opposition wanted to realise its ''twin agenda - summoning the prime minister and other ministers before the JPC and extending the scope of the JPC to examine the controversial Niira Radia tapes.''

By this, he argued, the opposition was trying to violate the sacrosanct right of the executive. ''They want the JPC to look into the formation of the government, which no parliamentary committee can do. How a minister is inducted cannot be looked into by a JPC,'' he said.

Bansal indicated that the government was looking for a way out, even by allowing a debate on the issue inside Parliament under a rule that entails voting. ''The prime minister is willing to answer all questions, he has nothing to hide. Let the House discuss, he will reply and he'll intervene.''

The government may also be calling another all-party meeting for the purpose next week. Meanwhile, the Congress core group met on Friday to discuss the current impasse.