New Delhi:
The winter session of Parliament might be cut short, with no end in sight to the impasse over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) inquiry into the 2G spectrum scam.
Sources have told NDTV that the session, which began on November 9 and was to have ended on December 13, may now be adjourned sine die sooner, perhaps even as early as Thursday.
The eight successive days of adjournment of Parliament without any major business translate into a loss of a staggering Rs.63 crore with the expenditure for each day of a session calculated at Rs.7.8 crore.
A huge amount of money is being wasted with the Houses not functioning. The expenditure for each minute of the day has been calculated to be Rs 26,000 per minute.
Parliament has been in session for 10 days but there has been no business transacted yet, with the Opposition forcing an adjournment every day over its demand.
The government has failed to convince the Opposition to relent, and is also clear that it will not agree to a JPC inquiry in the matter.
The government is not ready to accept the demand for a JPC inquiry as it fears that the Prime Minister could be summoned, the sources have claimed.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has held two rounds of meetings with leaders of all parties, but has failed to break the deadlock.
The government has been insisting that the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by BJP leader MM Joshi, should go into the CAG report.
It also suggested that multi-disciplinary investigative agencies be attached to the PAC. The Opposition has rejected this, saying it wants nothing less than a JPC. It has argued that PAC does not have powers to summon senior ministers, which the JPC does.
Sources said while all the Opposition parties are united on the demand for a JPC inquiry, some allies of the UPA and sections in the Congress have also indicated they would willing for such an inquiry to be held.
(With PTI inputs)