<p>However, with both sides unrelenting on their respective stands, the meeting of all-party leaders scheduled for Tuesday is unlikely to yield any result.<br /><br />Finance minister and Lok Sabha Leader Pranab Mukherjee who has convened the meeting may not have anything new to offer to the Opposition except reiterating the UPA’s earlier stance of a discussion in Parliament over the JPC demand.<br /><br />Interestingly, even as he is scheduled to chair the meet on Tuesday, Mukherjee gave an inkling of the government’s stance at the meeting of Independents and smaller parties convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Monday. <br /><br />He reportedly said at the meeting that the JPC would only be duplicating the work of the agencies already investigating the issue. “Mukherjee said the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are already looking into the issue,” Inder Singh Namdhari, Independent MP, said after the meeting. <br /><br />Congress, the main UPA party, is hoping that there will be a division in the Opposition unity as the Left parties would not like to side with the BJP which is strident in its demand for a JPC probe.<br /><br /> Left does not want a voting to entail discussion as otherwise, it would have to vote with the BJP. Facing the coming Assembly elections in the Left Front-ruled West Bengal and Kerala, the Communist parties are wary of voting with the BJP.<br /><br />“Nothing is going to happen in Tuesday’s meeting. An outcome, if at all, can be expected only just before the session starts”, an informed Congress leader told Deccan Herald. <br />The two-month long budget session will begin on February 21 and end on April 21 interspersed with a fortnight’s break. The entire winter session of 2010 was washed out as the government did not agree to the JPC demand. <br /><br />Although Congress spo-kesperson Jayanthi Natarajan last week said her party was open to a resolution on the JPC issue, the party or the government did not appear keen on this on Monday. For, although the coalition government may win it in Lok Sabha, it may get defeated if the same was moved in Rajya Sabha where it does not enjoy a majority.<br /><br />Asked about the Left stand, CPI leader D Raja said, “We do not know what the new proposal the government has. We will listen to Mukherjee and then will take a call.” He said the Left is for the JPC and the government “should accept it”, a view echoed by CPI-M Parliamentary Party leader Sitaram Yechury.</p>
<p>However, with both sides unrelenting on their respective stands, the meeting of all-party leaders scheduled for Tuesday is unlikely to yield any result.<br /><br />Finance minister and Lok Sabha Leader Pranab Mukherjee who has convened the meeting may not have anything new to offer to the Opposition except reiterating the UPA’s earlier stance of a discussion in Parliament over the JPC demand.<br /><br />Interestingly, even as he is scheduled to chair the meet on Tuesday, Mukherjee gave an inkling of the government’s stance at the meeting of Independents and smaller parties convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Monday. <br /><br />He reportedly said at the meeting that the JPC would only be duplicating the work of the agencies already investigating the issue. “Mukherjee said the CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) are already looking into the issue,” Inder Singh Namdhari, Independent MP, said after the meeting. <br /><br />Congress, the main UPA party, is hoping that there will be a division in the Opposition unity as the Left parties would not like to side with the BJP which is strident in its demand for a JPC probe.<br /><br /> Left does not want a voting to entail discussion as otherwise, it would have to vote with the BJP. Facing the coming Assembly elections in the Left Front-ruled West Bengal and Kerala, the Communist parties are wary of voting with the BJP.<br /><br />“Nothing is going to happen in Tuesday’s meeting. An outcome, if at all, can be expected only just before the session starts”, an informed Congress leader told Deccan Herald. <br />The two-month long budget session will begin on February 21 and end on April 21 interspersed with a fortnight’s break. The entire winter session of 2010 was washed out as the government did not agree to the JPC demand. <br /><br />Although Congress spo-kesperson Jayanthi Natarajan last week said her party was open to a resolution on the JPC issue, the party or the government did not appear keen on this on Monday. For, although the coalition government may win it in Lok Sabha, it may get defeated if the same was moved in Rajya Sabha where it does not enjoy a majority.<br /><br />Asked about the Left stand, CPI leader D Raja said, “We do not know what the new proposal the government has. We will listen to Mukherjee and then will take a call.” He said the Left is for the JPC and the government “should accept it”, a view echoed by CPI-M Parliamentary Party leader Sitaram Yechury.</p>
