Speaker to make fresh effort to end 2G logjam

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is likely to make a fresh endeavour to break the Parliament deadlock on the 2G Spectrum scam by calling leaders of political parties, who could not join her a fortnight back to

discuss the issue, ahead of the Budget Session.

"I will call the remaining leaders after my return from a visit to Britain this week," the Speaker said.

Kumar will be on an official visit to the UK later this week, the first by a Speaker in 14 years.

Sharing the coalition experience would perhaps be top of Kumar's mind when she interacts with John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons.

UK got its first coalition government, since the second world war, in May last year, whereas India has seen stable coalition governments for over a decade.

Kumar is expected to meet Baroness Hayman, the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.

She will also attend the standing committee meeting of the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) at Isle of Man on Friday.

On her return, she is expected to turn her attention to ensuring the smooth functioning of Parliament, the winter session of which was washed out following a bitter war of words between the government and Opposition on the alleged

irregularities in the 2G spectrum allocation.

The Speaker had convened two separate meetings late last month with leaders of political parties in the Lok Sabha and representatives of the government as part of her efforts to break the logjam in Parliament.

On the first day, leaders of the BJP met over lunch with Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee and Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal. The following day, leaders of the NCP, JD(U), AIADMK, TDP, RLD, BSP, CPM, CPI, BJD and DMK met

Mukherjee and Bansal.

However, leaders of several parties including Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, Samajwadi Party, RJD and the National Conference did not attend the luncheon meeting.

Kumar had said those leaders who could not make it to the meeting on December 31 would be called for discussions at a later date.