Centre likely to agree to JPC on 2G: sources

New Delhi: After an all-party meeting called by Pranab Mukherjee to break the Parliament deadlock on Tuesday, indications were there that the Government would agree to form a Joint Parliamentary Commitee (JPC) to investigate the 2G spectrum scam case.

UPA's trouble shooter and the man whose budget will be the centrepiece of the next Parliament session - Pranab Mukherjee - was trying to ensure that Parliament functions properly in the Budget Session.

He reached out to the Opposition over lunch on Tuesday. When Mukherjee sensed that the Opposition was sticking to the JPC demand, he ended the meeting with the lines of hope.

Sources said he admitted that no price was too high to allow Parliament to run. It means that the Government could finally agree on a JPC.

"We want the House to run," said Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

But the reality is that the Government feels cornered. And under pressure with the S-band scam, which brought the Prime Minister directly under the scanner, the resistance to JPC was withering away.

"I can only use the word that the Government was equally ready that Parliament must run," said the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

The modalities on how a JPC, if accepted, is to be worked out. Sources said that the Government has proposed either a short duration discussion or even a resolution.

The Government managers were also in backroom talks to break the Opposition unity to take the sting away from the debates on 2G and other scams.

Mukherjee met with Left leaders with the hope that electoral compulsions will force them not to vote along with the BJP.

The words of support to Mulayam at the Supreme Court in the Disproportionate Assets (DA) case was also seen as an effort to win another friend in these testing times.

The Government knows that at the end of the day it is its responsibility to see that Parliament runs, so it doesn't see agreeing to JPC as a compromise.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)