2G scam: Mukherjee’s all-party meet ends without compromise

NEW DELHI - The all-party meet called by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here on Monday to break the logjam in Parliament over the 2G scam, ended without compromise as the Opposition refused to let the Session work till the government agreed to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe.

Prior to the meeting, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said: “The BJP will not compromise on the need for a JPC.”

The decision to call an all-party meet over the issue was decided at a meeting of Congress Core Group on Sunday evening, which was attended by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

On Monday, both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till Tuesday as opposition members continued to demand a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The Winter Session of Parliament began on November 9 and has witnessed repeated adjournments over the opposition’s insistence for a JPC probe into the scam, even after A. Raja resigned as Communications and IT Minister last Sunday.

Both the BJP and the Left have noted that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry into the matter cannot be taken seriously.

The 2G spectrum allocation has reportedly caused an alleged loss of Rs1.76 lakh crores to the Government, the CAG has stated in a report.

The report further states that Raja had no apparent logical or valid reason to ignore the advice of the Law and Finance Ministries while allocating telecom spectrum to several firms in 2007-08. (ANI)