Cong. to raise JPC demand after budget is passed

By Javed M. Ansari

NEW DELHI, APRIL 23. The Congress today expressed satisfaction over the outcome of the meeting between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Leader of Opposition, Ms Sonia Gandhi. Speaking to newspersons after the meeting, Ms Gandhi said her party had decided to participate ``in the passage of the Finance Bill out of a sense of national duty and at the request of the Speaker''.

Justifying her party's decision to smoke the peace pipe with the Government and put an end to the impasse in Parliament, Ms Gandhi said ``it was done after the Prime Minister assured us that he had an open mind on the subject and that the issue will be taken up after the budget is passed''.

Ms. Gandhi hoped that the Government would stand by its commitment. ``We hope to get a positive response''. She said that her party had not resiled from its stand on the JPC and ``would raise the issue once the budget is passed''.

Emerging from the meeting in the Speaker's chamber, Ms Gandhi said ``the Speaker requested us to ensure that the budget is passed in a positive atmosphere and we agreed but our demand for a JPC stays''.

The Congress took pains to emphasise that it was the Government that had finally decided to yield. Party sources said the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Pramod Mahajan, had in the Business Advisory Committee meeting rejected outright a suggestion by the IUML leader, Mr. G.M. Banatwala, that the Government should consider setting up a JPC after a discussion on the issue. ``It is the Government which has had to change its position. Our stand on the JPC remains where it was,'' said party spokesman, Mr. Jaipal Reddy.

The party maintained that its decision to end the impasse and participate in the discussion of the Finance Bill did not imply a climbdown. ``This does not in any way imply a dilution of our demand for a JPC. The Congress will continue to agitate for it after the financial business is concluded,'' Mr. Reddy said. He, however, hoped that the Government in the spirit of mutual accommodation and wider national interests would reconsider its earlier stand on the JPC.

There was also a sigh of relief in the Congress camp over the turn of events. Most MPs had begun to believe that the issue had stretched out far too long and were also mindful of the adverse reaction that their stalling tactics was attracting in the intelligentsia and the middle class. Having fought and won an honourable compromise, the party now believes the focus will once again shift to the findings of the Tehelka expose. It also believes that by facilitating the passage of budget, it has clearly demonstrated its willingness to ``put national interest before that of the party.'' Senior leaders also believe that now that the party has acted in accordance with popular perception, the onus will now shift on the BJP Government to keep its end of the bargain or risk attracting charges of blocking a JPC probe against those involved in corruption.

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