Nov. 25: The government on Thursday virtually dared the Opposition parties to move a no-confidence motion against it if they are not satisfied with its offer of a Public Accounts Committee examination of the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation.
The government’s reply to the Opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe was a firm “No”. It also ruled out adjourning the Parliament session sine die. Leader of the Lok Sabha and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said efforts were being made to end the impasse. “I have not been able to find a solution. I do not know how to resolve this impasse. We are trying. Let us see,” Mr Mukherjee told reporters here.
Government managers are confident that the supporting parties, like the BSP, Samajwadi Party and RJD, would have no option but to back the Centre in the event of an Opposition no-confidence motion this session because nobody is ready to face a mid-term general election.
The issue is expected to be discussed at a Congress core committee meeting on Friday. Mr Mukherjee has had two rounds of meetings with floor leaders but this has not broken the ice.
The Opposition is expected to be more aggressive on this issue after the rout of the Congress in the Bihar Assembly polls, and the Left and AIADMK are expected to exploit this issue against the DMK and the Trinamul Congress in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively. Both states will witness Assembly elections early next year.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, meanwhile, appealed to all parties to end the stalemate.