Pranab diplomacy fails yet again as opposition adamant

A fresh attempt by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday to end the over two-week impasse in Parliament over the 2G spectrum allocation issue made no headway, as he reportedly offered no new proposal.

With the opposition insisting on a joint parliamentary committee probe and the union government sticking to its ''no JPC'' stand, the deadlock is likely to continue.

Functioning of both Houses of Parliament has been affected since November 10, the second day of the winter session, over the issue.

The government also ruled out adjourning the session ahead of its scheduled date of 13 December.

On Sunday, Mukherjee telephoned BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, offering a discussion in Parliament and a Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe.

But none of them was prepared to budge from the position that the house would not be allowed to function unless the government agreed to a JPC enquiry into the 2G spectrum allocation, which according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has lost the exchequer Rs1.76 lakh crore.