Even as there was no obvious breakthrough to end Parliament logjam over Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, the general sense of an all party meeting convened by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was that the government was inching towards the JPC.
The finance minister reportedly told a meeting of leaders of all major and minor parties that no price was too high to pay to ensure the smooth functioning of Parliament. Most leaders who came out of the meeting felt that this was the surest indication that the JPC would be conceded by the government.
According to sources, all Opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party as well as the four Left parties reiterated their demand for the JPC, despite wishing that the Houses of Parliament continue to function. ?If you think that our desire for the House to function would make us give up the demand for a JPC, then lets make it clear, that it is not going to happen,? said an Opposition leader.
There had been reports earlier that the government would convince the Opposition to debate the JPC and may later concede or make it a redundant proposition. This was spiked by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj. ?If you want to debate the JPC, first make an unequivocal declaration that a JPC has been conceded. There is no going back for us now,? shetold the meeting. The finance minister said that he would convey the views of the parties to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and get back with concrete proposals.