Pranab Mukherjee convenes meeting of political parties on February 8

Finance minister and leader of the House in Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee has convened a meeting of leaders of political parties in an apparent bid to break the deadlock in Parliament.

The meeting has been convened over lunch for "mutual consultations" over the budget session of Parliament, sources said.

With the winter session of Parliament washed out over the opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the second-generation mobile telephony spectrum scam, the gvernment apparently wants to sort out issues to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the budget session beginning February 21.

President Pratibha Patil had in her Republic Day address on Tuesday made it clear that it was a joint responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament.

However, both the opposition and government are firm in their demands for and against a JPC probe.