Meira Kumar meets non-BJP Opposition leaders to end Parliament deadlock

NEW DELHI - Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar met the leaders of the Left Front and other non-BJP opposition parties at her residence here on Friday in a fresh bid to end the Parliament deadlock over a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

Kumar asked the leaders to ensure smooth functioning of the ‘Budge Session’ of Parliament due early next year in the meeting.

She met Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani, Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav, senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader M. Thambi Durai, Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal and his deputy V Narayansamy during the last two days and expressed her concern to them.

On Thursday, the Speaker met BJP leaders but failed to bridge the differences as they insisted on a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G scam.

The luncheon meeting was attended Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and senior BJP leader LK Advani.

At the two-hour meeting, both the government and the Opposition leaders agreed that the logjam was a matter of concern, but had divergent views on ending it.

The BJP leaders made it clear that they would accept nothing less than JPC probe into the scam.

The Speaker, however, was hopeful that the deadlock would end before the next session of Parliament.

“Both sides are very keen that the next session of Parliament should run in order … I am very optimistic on how the events will unfold,” she said.

Earlier on Monday, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, wrote to senior BJP leader and Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi saying that he is ready to appear before the panel in connection with the 2G-spectrum scam.

The Prime Minister made an unprecedented offer of appearing before the PAC at the Congress 83rd plenary meet on December 20, saying he has “nothing to hide”.

“I sincerely believe that like Caesar’s wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion and it is for this reason that I am prepared to appear before the PAC even though there is no precedent to that effect,” Dr. Singh had said.

Former Telecom Minister A Raja was forced to resign last month after a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) faulted him for undervaluing spectrum to favour companies who were largely ineligible for 2G spectrum, and added that the government had probably lost Rs.1.76 lakh crore in estimated revenue. (ANI)