The Bharatiya Janata Party may skip the swearing in ceremony of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner on Tuesday.
The party has been objecting to Telecom Secretary Thomas' appointment, saying that the move was aimed at burying the ongoing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Rs 60,000 crore spectrum scam.
BJP leaders doubt if Thomas -- a 1973 batch Indian Administrative Services officer of Kerala cadre -- could be expected to make a fair inquiry into the spectrum case since the main accused, Telecom Minister A Raja, happens to be his one-time boss.
On Monday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj said: "We are not blacklisting him. You can reward him with some other post but post of CVC should go to some untainted officer. I told them that you have chosen the panel, give me the liberty to choose the CVC. Then I suggested we defer the meeting and enlarge the panel but they said it had to be done today."
She gave a dissent note on the selection of Thomas.
Rejecting BJP's criticism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has defended the appointment, saying: "We have done the right thing. We have chosen the best candidate out of the list of three."
Dr Singh and his Cabinet colleagues will take part in the swearing in ceremony in Ashok Hall at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
