2G scam: BJP storms out of JPC meet

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Five members of the BJP in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)  examining the 2G telecom scam, have walked out of a meeting of the panel. The BJP is demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram depose before the panel, said an NDTV report.

Earlier this year,  JPC had witnessed heated exchanges between the Congress and the BJP members over calling former telecom minister A. Raja and Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati among others as witnesses.

BJP members wanted A. Raja, Vahanvati, Dayanidhi Maran and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee to be called as witnesses, which the Congress members had opposed.

The panel consists of 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. It was formed on March 4, 2011, to probe the telecom policy of the governments since 1998 to 2009. The Congress has 10 members, the BJP has five and one is from the Janata Dal-United.

BJP is expected to address the media regarding this issue tomorrow.