Sonia meets Sushma over Parliament logjam issue

Keen to break the logjam in Parliament over the CAG report, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has reached out to Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj but the BJP appeared unrelenting on its stand.

Taking the initiative, Gandhi talked to the senior BJP leader yesterday, coinciding with her hectic consultations with the party top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources said.

BJP, however, said there is no change in their stand of seeking the Prime Minister's resignation on the issue.

"There will be no let up. We will further intensify our fight inside and outside Parliament," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Asked if BJP would allow passage of some crucial bills, he said, "This is not a question of bills but of the nation. Our fight will continue."

Congress sources said Gandhi's reaching out to Swaraj is a further vindication that the party is always prepared to consult all stakeholders on any issue in keeping with the best traditions of Parliamentary democracy, where a way should be found out through dialogue and debate.

Gandhi and the Prime Minister deliberated at length the strategy ahead as business in Parliament was washed out for the eighth consecutive day on Friday on the coal block allocation issue.

After the consultations with the Prime Minister and his senior Cabinet colleagues, Gandhi is learnt to have decided to hold consultations with UPA constituents and allies on ways and means to break the deadlock in Parliament.

The government has already rejected the demand for cancellation of coal blocks and slammed the BJP for demanding resignation of the Prime Minister over the issue.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is extending outside support to the UPA government, has demanded an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge into the coal block allocation scam.