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| Murli Manohar Joshi |
New Delhi, Dec. 29: The BJP is now looking to the RSS to restrain Murli Manohar Joshi so that he comes out and states that he adheres to the party line for a JPC probe on the 2G spectrum scam.
Sources in the BJP said top leaders have already got in touch with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and urged him to intervene and check the damage caused by Joshi’s “over enthusiasm” in probing the spectrum issue as chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“The party wants Joshi to come out and state that while he is doing his job as PAC chairman, he is firmly with the party’s stand for a JPC probe. This will clear the air and strengthen the party’s position against the Congress,” said a senior BJP leader.
The party also wants him to make it clear that there was no precedent of the Prime Minister appearing before the PAC and he, as the chairperson of the parliamentary body, would not like to break this tradition.
The Prime Minister has offered to appear before the PAC and has also written to Joshi, who said the House panel would take an “appropriate decision at the appropriate time”.
The BJP believes that if the Prime Minister appears before the PAC, then it would dilute their demand for the JPC probe.
Sources said though some senior members of the party have already spoken to Joshi but it had not yielded the desired result.
The BJP has been repeatedly stressing that the PAC had a “limited mandate” and, so, inadequate to probe the alleged scandal estimated to have caused a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer. “Nothing short of a JPC is acceptable to us,” the BJP stressed even today.
Given Joshi’s seniority — third after Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani — the party is now seeking help from the RSS, as he is known to share a good rapport with RSS chief Bhagwat.
Old timers in the party, however, felt that it was difficult to get Joshi to come out with a clarification.
Given the fact that Joshi is known to be egoistic and too sensitive about his seniority, it appears unlikely that he will do what the party wants.