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Stepping up efforts to break the logjam in Parliament over Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday met leaders of the government and the opposition and later voiced optimism over smooth running of the Budget session.
Kumar met Leader of the Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal and his deputy V Narayansamy in yet another attempt to end the deadlock which she said was a "cause of concern".
"Both sides are very keen that the next session (of Parliament) should run in order ... I am very, very optimistic on how the events will unfold," she told mediapersons in New Delhi.
Leaders of non-BJP parties are meeting the Speaker on Friday to discuss ways to break the Parliament deadlock. Almost the entire Winter session of Parliament was washed out without transacting any significant business as the opposition-government standoff on the issue of JPC probe into the spectrum allocation forced repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
After the nearly two-hour meeting, the Speaker said she was optimistic that despite their differing views, the opposition and the ruling coalition would be able to find a common ground.
"I am fully convinced that our democracy is very mature. There might be some ups and downs but whether they are leaders of the ruling party or the ruling coalition or leaders of the opposition they all are very committed to ensuring that Parliament runs," she said.
"With this kind of commitment and this kind of attitude, I am sure with their differing views they will be able to find a common ground and I am very optimistic that something positive will emerge," Kumar said.
The Speaker noted that Parliament was not able to function during the Winter session barring the first day. "It is a cause of concern for all of us and all this while I was worried," she said.
This was the second meeting that was held at her behest. The first meeting was held during the Winter session of the Parliament when she had called an all party meeting but failed to evolve consensus between the government and the opposition parties.
Asked if there was any developments at the meetings which has given her a ray of hope that the Budget session would run smoothly, Meira Kumar said that there were enough hints dropped by either sides to give her this feeling.
BJP 'firm and clear' on JPC demand
Meanwhile, the BJP after meeting Speaker Kumar on Thursday said it was "firm" and "clear" on its demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam and that the responsibility of finding a way out of the impasse lies with the government.
"BJP's position is that we are asking for a JPC. We are clear and we are firm on our demand for a JPC," party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.
With inputs from PTI