A day after two of its key allies — the NCP and NC — opposed its move leaving the Government red-faced; the Centre on Monday dropped its plans to name a judge for the commission to probe ‘snoopgate’.
“We have left the decision on appointing a judge to the next Government that will come to power,” Government sources said. While NCP chief Sharad Pawar had on Sunday spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh opposing the move, NC leader and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had questioned the Government’s last minute action, especially when the decision to constitute the commission was taken five months ago.
A controversy had broken out last week when Union Ministers Sushilkumar Shinde and Kapil Sibal had said that the Government had zeroed in on a judge for the commission to probe snoopgate, — allegedly involving the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi and his close aide Amit Shah - before May 16, when the counting of votes in the lok Sabha elections will be taken up.
Reacting to the Centre’s decision to drop its move, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said there was nothing left to investigate in the matter as there is already a Commission of Inquiry, appointed by the Gujarat Government, which was going into the issue.
“The setting up of a parallel commission by the Centre was a mala fide exercise and I would (like to) pay tribute to the Indian judiciary, for none of the judges in India was willing to cooperate with this mala fide political exercise,” Jaitley said.
It was alleged that illegal surveillance was carried out on a young woman architect in Gujarat in 2009 at the behest of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who was the Home Minister at that time.
The announcement came under severe attack from the BJP which slammed the UPA saying it was practicing vendetta out of desperation as it was staring at defeat in the elections. The party also questioned the need for such a probe when the State Government itself had ordered a Commission of Inquiry into the same subject.
On the change in stance of the Government, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the matter had just come into public domain a short while ago and they would not like to comment without having full knowledge of the official statement. Singhvi told the mediapersons questioning him on the issue that he had “nothing to comment except for you to quote the Government statement”.
On Sunday, NCP leader Praful Patel had said: “When the results of the lok Sabha elections are due in two weeks’ time, where is the need for such an enquiryIJ” Unfazed by the opposition from its two allies, Congress spokesperson and Mahila Congress chief Shoba Oza and Singhvi, however, had gone ahead saying there would be “no compromise” on the probe as the matter does not involve any political party, but women of the country who constitute half of the population.
However AICC sources said the party and the Government, which is now on its last legs, wants to send a message that Prime Minister Singh took the decision either on his own or with the consent of his Cabinet colleagues and allies, sans the interference of the Congress High Command, a perception on which the BJP has been targeting Sonia Gandhi.