Congress dismisses Murli Manohar Joshi's statement on parliamentary probe demand

Congress was today dismissive of Murli Manohar Joshi's statement that "as a member of BJP" he is in favour of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) into the second-generation (2G) mobile telephony spectrum issue, insisting at the same time that the PAC he heads has "vast powers" in bringing greater accountability in public spending.

"Joshi has said nothing new. As a member of the BJP, he has on earlier occasions asked for the formation of a JPC. He is examining the CAG report as head of a parliamentary committee," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told reporters.

He was asked whether the statement of the BJP leader, who is also the PAC chairman has come as a 'disappointment' to the party which was seeing a wedge between Joshi and the opposition party on the JPC issue till the other day.

"You ask Joshi. It is for him to respond... I do not know in what circumstances he made the statement," Ahmed said when asked whether the BJP veteran's latest statement on the matter showed that he had done it under pressure from the party which has been firm in its demand for JPC.

After the unease in BJP over his active pursuit of 2G probe, Joshi said in a statement, "As a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I stand fully committed to the demand for the formation of a JPC to look into the broader questions related to corruption facing the country today."