Meira Kumar breaks bread with opposition, but can’t break House deadlock

Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s all-party lunch on Tuesday failed to break the 13-day-old deadlock in parliament, as a clear trust deficit emerged between the UPA government at the Centre and a united opposition. The speaker’s limited offer to allow question hour was also rejected.

In fact, the meeting saw hardening of stances by both the government and the opposition over the issue of setting up a joint parliament committee (JPC) to probe the 2G spectrum scam.

The government asserted that there was no question of conceding the opposition demand for a JPC, particularly since there was no agreement on its terms of reference even if the demand was accepted.

“They [opposition parties] want a JPC that covers all four pillars of the system — executive, judiciary, parliament and the media. They do not want to limit it to 2G spectrum allocation. They want to probe formation of the government as well as tapes pertaining to media leaks,” parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal said after the meeting.

He said a JPC was not tenable under the rules. “No one can question the prime minister on government formation. It is entirely his prerogative. Besides, this does not remain a fact-finding mission. It is just a political mission. They are looking for a platform to embarrass and destabilise the government,” Bansal said.

On the other hand, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj claimed that the opposition unity on the issue was gaining strength by the day.

“All the other agencies [CBI, etc] that they have offered work have a limited mandate. Only a JPC has the power and scope to get into all aspects of a scam of this magnitude and question ministers. Besides, who can trust CBI with the CVC [chief vigilance commissioner] under a cloud?” she said.

Telecom minister Kapil Sibal, who has initiated the process of issuing notices to 2G spectrum licencees, countered. “It [JPC] can be useful only if it has the backing of the entire parliament, and only if all sections of parliament genuinely feel it is needed for some stated purpose. Otherwise, it is a politically divisive exercise and yields nothing,” he told reporters.

Pointing out that a JPC did not have the power to fix culpability or take corrective measures, Sibal said the opposition’s insistence was unreasonable and anti-democratic.

“We do not understand the need to set up a JPC as a precondition for a debate in parliament. The government has nothing to hide and is prepared for an open debate and will answer all questions,” he said, adding that proceedings of a JPC would be behind closed doors and people would no nothing.