The crucial JPC meeting scheduled on Friday is expected to adopt with a majority vote the controversial draft report, which provided a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidamabaram and put the entire blame of the 2G Spectrum scam on former Telecom Minister A Raja.
As the new composition of the panel has 17 MPs in favour of the report, the Congress-dominated 30-member JPC could easily ratify its findings with Opposition parties BJP, CPI and AIADMK expected to file separate dissent notes.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury submitted his 32-page dissent note on Thursday itself. Yechury, in his report, is learnt to have indicted PM and Chidambaram’s culpability with Raja in executing the 2G scam.
Though UPA ally NCP and erstwhile partner DMK had protested for not providing a chance to Raja to explain his version before the panel, both parties are not expected to go beyond this stand and are likely to support the draft report.
“It is the opinion of the party. We have registered our opinion with the JPC. But we do not wish to make it an issue. We have told the committee our stand,” the sole NCP member in the panel YP Trivedi told media on Thursday.
Senior DMK member and sole representative of his party in the committee, TR Baalu, while demanding that the former Telecom Minister be called as a witness, has also demanded examining fresh documents before adopting the report.JD(U) member Sharad Yadav would not be able to attend the meeting due to prior appointments. JD(U) has two members in the JPC.
JPC Chairman PC Chacko’s controversial draft report was earlier rejected by DMK and JD(U) and the UPA had lost majority in the Committee. This situation led the activities of the JPC to come to a standstill for the past five months. The UPA gained majority after accommodating a nominated member Ashok Ganguly in place of DMK member Tiruchy Siva, who retired from Rajya Sabha.