Pranab initiative sought

Opposition leaders who met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday said they were as keen as the government on ensuring the smooth functioning of the budget session of Parliament, despite their firm stand on a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G scam.

AIADMK leader M. Thambidurai said his party was “ready to cooperate with the government on Parliamentary procedures.” Basudev Acharia (CPI-M) too said his party was opposed to the disruption of the House.

Emerging from the meeting, RLD chief Ajit Singh stressed his party had also conveyed to the Speaker that he wanted the House to function normally.

Gurudas Dasgupta (CPI) said he wanted Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee to take the lead in finding a solution to the deadlock. He observed that the “point of no return” cannot continue in a Parliamentary system, and appealed to Mr. Mukherjee to help find a solution acceptable to all.

So, while all these parties have not given up their demand for a JPC probe, there appeared to be agreement that the budget session should function normally and a solution to end the impasse should be sought actively.

Meanwhile, in the January 2, 2011 issue of

People's Democracy , the CPI (M)'s party paper, the editorial has suggested the creation of an anti-corruption law: “What is required…is to evolve a set of new regulations, and if necessary laws, to ensure that such massive manipulations of our system permitting colossal loots are prevented in the future. This would be the central agenda of the JPC. Recollect that it was only after the JPC recommendations on the Harshad Mehta stock market scam that regulations strengthening our financial sector operations were brought into effect,” says the editorial.