BJP to attend all-party meeting called by Speaker

The Bharatiya Janata Party will attend a meeting called by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to break the deadlock in Parliament over the demand for JPC on 2G spectrum issue.

"We will attend the meeting called by the Honourable Speaker (Meira Kumar)," Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj tweeted. In an attempt to sort out the issue which has stalled the winter session of Parliament, the Speaker has called an all-party meeting on Thursday and Friday.

The meeting could provide an opportunity to both parties who have taken a "hard stance" on the issue and the Speaker could play the role of facilitator to break the ice, sources said.

The budget session of Parliament is expected

to start in the third week of February and the opposition leaders have threatened to stall the proceedings if the JPC demand was not met. "The present situation is in everybody's mind. Democracy means to bring about a mid-path and solve problems," Kumar had said while expressing hope that the imbroglio would be resolved soon.

The Speaker had earlier held a meeting with leaders to end the impasse but it proved futile. The BJP and other opposition parties insist that the Public Accounts Committee does not have the powers to fully investigate the 2G spectrum scam and a JPC should be constituted.

Two all-party meetings had been called by the government to end the impasse but have failed to end the deadlock.