The government has decided to hold the Budget Session of Parliament from February 21 at a time when the Opposition has not diluted its stand on a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam. This issue had virtually made the Winter Session the non-starter. The government, which has been refusing the Opposition’s demand for a JPC has not been able to break the impasse on the issue despite having called atleast three meetings with the Opposition leaders.
On the other hand, Congress allies in the UPA see nothing wrong in the Opposition’s JPC demand. Although, they are sharing power with the Congress in the Centre, they are in no mood to take initiatives to end the impasse.
According to UPA insiders, the issue can be resolved if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi walk extra miles to take the Opposition into confidence about their intent to take action against the guilty.
Meanwhile, parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) that the Budget Session would be in two parts — the first upto March 16 and second from April 4 till April 21.
The decision to recommend the dates for the session to the President was taken at the CCPA meeting chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also Leader of the House in Lok Saba. Mr Bansal said other details relating to the session would be worked out. The recess between the two parts of the session will be used by departmentally-related standing committees of various ministries to scrutinise the budgetary demands for grants.
The session starts with the address by the President to a joint sitting of both the Houses.