M A I N   N E W S

House logjam: Cong-allies meet called off
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 6
A meeting of UPA allies, scheduled late this evening at Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s residence to discuss ways to end the Parliament impasse over the 2G Spectrum scam, was called off. The NCP, a major ally of the Congress-led UPA, rallied behind the government, saying that there was no difference of opinion among allies regarding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the issue.

Parliament has been in a logjam for past 17 days with the Opposition remaining adamant on a JPC probe. The government, however, is firm that there is no need for a JPC, especially with multi-agency probe being carried into the scam.

Sources, however, say the Congress is under pressure from allies, especially the Trinamool Congress and the DMK, to soften its “no-JPC” stand. But NCP leader Sharad Pawar says there is no split in the UPA on the JPC issue and the decision on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) being an adequate body to investigate into the 2G scam is a collective one.

Also denying reports that the government was under pressure from allies, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Bansal said: “We keep on discussing things. It is a dynamic process. Meetings do take place from time to time”.