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After a wastage of 13 consecutive working days, the entire winter session of Parliament, which is slated to conclude on December 13, appears set to be lost as efforts to break the government-opposition stand-off over the joint parliamentary committee probe failed on Tuesday with both sides hardening their positions.
At an all-party meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, the Opposition made it clear that it will not allow Parliament to function till a JPC probe into 2G Spectrum allocation is set up but the government said the demand was "unacceptable".
The Opposition parties also emphasised that they will not be satisfied by anything less than a JPC probe, rejecting the government's proposal for a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the 2G scam.
"All the Opposition parties demanded a JPC and if the government can't give JPC, Parliament would not be able to function. We have told this thing to the Speaker also," Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj told medipersons after a two-and-a-half hour meeting.
During the meeting, the Speaker suggested that the question hour should be allowed and other issues could be debated later but it was turned down by the Opposition. "We asked how will it help if question hour goes on," Swaraj said, adding her party wanted Parliament to function not for just one hour but the whole day.
"Why is the government refusing to accept the JPC demand is bewildering. The government feels many skeletons will come out of its cupboard," Communist Party of India leader Gurudas Dasgupta said.
Insisting that the demands for JPC do not fit in the rules of Parliament, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, "This meeting could not bring about the results we expected."
Contending that her effort was to end the impasse in Parliament, the Speaker said, "Till a solution is found, both sides (government and Opposition) should continue efforts."
Meanwhile, to build pressure on the government, members of Parliament from non-National Democratic Alliance opposition parties on Friday approached President Pratibha Patil urging her to "advise" the government to accept the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam.
About 80 MPs belonging to Communist Party of India-Marxist, CPI, Forward Bloc, Telugu Desam Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Janata Dal-Secular, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Biju Janata Dal and Rashtriya Lok Dal marched from the Parliament to the President's House and submitted a memorandum to her.
After the meeting, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said leaders of all the parties "urged the President to impress upon her government to accept the demand of JPC to probe the 2G scam."
He said the MPs requested her on the issue as the government constitutionally belongs to her. Terming the 2G scam as "biggest corruption after independence," Yechury said the JPC was required not only to find out who was behind it and punish them, but also to probe how massively the system can be manipulated. "On the basis of this probe, there is a need to work on a new regulation which only a JPC can do," he added.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, president of the Samajwadi Party, made it clear that there was no division in the opposition and they would not settle for anything less than a JPC probe in the 2G scam.
When asked whether there was a possibility of the impasse being resolved he said, "Please ask this question to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh who is blocking any kind of settlement. And the only way out is the government agreeing to the opposition demand and setting up a JPC," the SP chief told rediff.com.
According to AIADMK leader M Thambidurai, the public accounts committee has its limitations and only a JPC can fully probe the issue.
CPI's Gurudas Dasgupta said, "We have requested the President to make use of her constitutional powers. We want her to use her powers and advise the government on JPC."
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to take their protests to the streets. S S Ahluwalia, deputy leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha, told rediff.com that the opposition parties would take the matter to the public and hold a rally in New Delhi. "The date and venue would be decided in consultations with the leaders of the other parties. We shall accept nothing less than a JPC probe," he said.
With inputs from Agencies