Accepting JPC is not defeat, says Congress

As the possibility of the UPA government accepting opposition’s demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam looked brighter, the Congress dismissed as hypothetical a question about its defeat on this issue.

“In a democracy, there is nothing like victory or defeat in such matters,” Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said on Tuesday.

In the same breath, he asserted that there was no change in the party’s position on this issue.

“We have always maintained that the issue should be debated in Parliament. We have no problem about the format of the debate. Moreover, the proceedings of Parliament are live on television, so let there be a debate, and let people see everything for themselves and judge,” he said.

He said the proper functioning of Parliament was one of the basic requirements of an effective democracy.

“Neither the government nor the opposition can afford a situation in which parliament remains paralysed for an uncertain period,” he observed.