Pending last minute disturbances or any other untoward development, the government and opposition have reached a compromise by which Parliament will function on Thursday.
The government has agreed to Bharatiya Janata Party and Left's demand for an adjournment motion on the issue of black money, which will be moved by BJP leader L K Advani. The government has decided to associate itself with the motion and would also express its agreement to the motion.
Sources say it is likely to be a one-line motion and would reflect the sense of the house as has happened in the past on certain issues, with the government also expressing its concern over black money.
After two days of disruptions in Parliament and both houses adjourned, a meeting was held n Wednesday evening at the residence of the prime minister. In attendance at the meeting were senior Congress ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Pawan Bansal and Ahmed Patel. It was decided that since the government was not in disagreement over the issue of black money, why should the BJP be given an opportunity to make the government appear defensive? With the government on board, Pranab Mukherjee spoke to L K Advani and by late evening the issue of allowing Parliament to function on Thursday was settled.
The BJP had made it clear to the Left parties that they should support the BJP on the issue of black money and in return the BJP will go along with the Left on the issue of price rise and go by whatever rule they decide for a discussion.
The Left, which wanted an adjournment motion on price rise, later backed off from its demand and has now agreed to a discussion under rule 193 on price rise. 193 is a non voting rule and the government is happy to agree to this. The discussion will come up on Monday. The BJP has agreed to go by the Left's decision on this.
Sources in the BJP say that after having gone on a Jan Chetna Yatra to highlight the issue of corruption and black money and scams in the UPA government, L K Advani who is positioning himself as a BJP prime ministerial candidate for 2014, wanted to retain the moral high ground on the issue of black money, hence the adjournment motion.
But sources in the government say the UPA has been in touch with Swiss authorities for some time now to ferret out the names and bank details of those who have black money stashed abroad and has been working overtime to bring this into the public domain. They have no problems in joining the opposition over the issue of black money.
The Congress has said that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will reply to the debate where he will emphasise all the steps taken by the government and his ministry on black money to take the wind out of Advani's sails.
