Meeting to end deadlock in RS over coal issue inconclusive

A meeting of leaders of political parties, called by Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari to break the deadlock in the House over coal block allocation issue, today remained inconclusive.

Ansari, who called the meeting in his chamber after the ruckus in Rajya Sabha for the third day over CAG report on coal block allocation, heard views of the political leaders.

Among those who attended the meeting were Ravishankar Prasad (BJP), Derek O'brien (TMC), Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena) and D Raja (CPI).

A leader said that the meeting remained inconclusive and Ansari was scheduled to hold another round of consultations with party leaders.

Parliament has witnessed turmoil for the past three days with BJP members demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over CAG's findings on coal block allocation, which according to the auditor led to "undue benefits" to private parties to the tune of Rs 1.86 lakh crore.

A meeting of leaders of political parties convened by the Speaker Meira Kumar to end the deadlock in Lok Sabha on the CAG report issue was attended, among others, by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Trinamool leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
Sources said BJP leaders did not attend the meeting.