The possibility of reaching some kind of consensus between the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on the proposed bill on nuclear civil liability emerged on Wednesday after a meeting of leaders of the two parties.
Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee invited BJP leaders for a meeting where several issues were thrashed out. Time for the parliamentary standing committee chaired by T. Subbarami Reddy looking at the bill ran out on Wednesday, but has been extended by a week on the BJP's demand. The flurry of activity included Mr. Reddy meeting the Prime Minister and senior officers of the Department of Atomic Energy meeting the Minister of State in the PMO Prithviraj Chauhan.
Voices from the government as well as the Opposition suggested the possibility of a “meeting ground.” But a consensus would have to be hammered out through several rounds of discussions, not just at the standing committee alone but with senior party leaders, the BJP said.
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Mr. Mukherjee invited BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley for a meeting which was also attended by Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh and Yashwant Sinha.