Opposition protests over JPC not aimed at overthrowing govt: BJP

BJP leader L K Advani said the Opposition did not demand mid-term polls and such suggestions were in fact given by a minister in the government. He, however, refused to name the minister.

"Some parties may be welcoming mid-term polls but why a member of Parliament, who has been elected for five years, would like curtailment of his term," Advani said making it clear that the opposition's campaign against corruption in Parliament did not aim at throwing out the government.

"We had ordered polls six months before our tenure was over and it went against us. The election results of Bihar are a clear indication of the public's mood. I wonder why the government is not accepting JPC," he added.

Talking to reporters, the senior BJP leader said, "This is first time that the entire session was washed out on one issue. It was triggered off by Congress. It has been isolated on the issue both inside and outside Parliament not only by the oppostion but also by its own allies."

Advani made the remarks after a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance partners to finalise their strategy for the alliance campaign against the government on the issue of corruption.

"Having scuttled the winter session of Parliament through sheer obstinacy, the Congress has mounted a campaign to mislead people into thinking that the opposition was responsible for the entire Session ending in a fiasco. The NDA has already placed the facts before the public and it is common knowledge that a corruption-ridden, scam-tainted and fragile UPA government brought Parliament to its knees only to protect the guilty men and women of the most gigantic loot of taxpayers' money in the nation's history," he told mediapersons.

Vowing to take the "fight against corruption" from Parliament to the street, the NDA's working chairman said the alliance will organise country-wide rallies against corruption. A rally in Delhi will be held on December 22 and in Mumbai on January 16.

Slamming the government for putting the blame on the Opposition for the wash out of the session, Advani said neither Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh nor Congress President Sonia Gandhi could offer any "convincing and credible reason" on why they did not accept the JPC demand. Terming the 2G spectrum issue as "a multi-dimensional scam", he alleged that while the country wanted to know who were its beneficiaries, the government did not want that this information should not reach people. He said that he would still appeal to the government to accept JPC.

Speaking about the 2G scam, he thanked the media for its role in exposing the biggest scam in history and asked for its help in continuing to expose the corruption. "Earlier, we were under the impression that 10 Janpath decides who should be in the cabinet and who should not. But we now know that 10 Janpath does not even know it is the lobbists and other persons who fix what portfolio," Advani remarked.