"I have not been able to find a solution. I do not know how to resolve this impasse. We are trying. Let us see," finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
As the tenth consecutive working day of Parliament was lost amid its stand-off with the opposition on the second generation mobile telephony spectrum allocation scam, the government today said it did not know how to end the impasse but was trying to find a solution.
"I have not been able to find a solution. I do not know how to resolve this impasse. We are trying. Let us see," finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar said her appeal to all parties would be to end the stalemate.
"It is my earnest appeal to end the impasse and allow the Houses to function and discuss the issues in Parliament," Kumar said when asked about the possibility of breaking the deadlock as both the government and the Opposition are sticking to their stand on the issue of a joint parliamentary committee probe into second generation mobile telephony spectrum allocation scam.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury met Mukherjee after Parliament adjourned for the day to explore ways to break the impasse which has now given rise to talk of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourning sine-die.
He sought to reason out with Mukherjee on the Opposition demand for a JPC pointing out that the Congress too had forced repeated adjournments in the House in the wake of the Tehelka expose during the NDA rule.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal ruled out an early end to the Winter Session of Parliament asserting that the government was in favour of functioning of both the Houses till December 13 as planned originally.
With the tangle over demand for setting up a JPC remaining unresolved, Parliament failed to function for the tenth working day today. Like previous days, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned first till noon and then for the day in the wake of pandemonium.
Bansal said the government had firmly rejected the oppposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee.
"The government will make efforts till December 13 to ensure that the House runs," he told reporters.
To a question, he said he told the opposition that if their only objective was to summon the prime minister and some ministers, that was not acceptable.
"Today I told the opposition that if that is your objective (summoning the PM and ministers) that is not acceptable. If you have the courage and conviction, come and discuss the issue in the House," he said.
Bansal said during NDA rule, the then government did not accept demand for JPC into Tehelka expose and coffin scam.
"Vajpayee-ji (then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee) had said the issue can be discussed in the House and there was no JPC."
Asked about government plans to deal with the situation if opposition moves a no-confidence motion, Bansal said "if such a thing happens, we cannot stop it. But the Opposition will get a beating. The government is in power till it has majority. People will also understand that it is the opposition that is not allowing the House to function".
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