In a fresh bid to break the deadlock in Parliament over the Opposition’s demand for a JPC probe into the alleged 2-G spectrum allocation scam, finance minister and leader in the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee has called a meeting of the leaders of all the parties over lunch on February 8.
Informing about the move on the part of the government, sources said, the communications, which have been sent to leaders all the parties, invites them for “mutual consultations” over the Budget Session of Parliament.
Even as both the ruling and the Opposition sides have all along been seen firm on their respective stand on the issue of JPC, the latest move, in the political circle, is seen as the follow up of President Pratibha Patil’s Republic Day speech in which she had made it clear that it was a joint responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament.
With the winter session of Parliament washed out over the Opposition demand for a JPC, the government now apparently wants to sort out issues to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the budget session beginning February 21.