Indian government offers corruption debate

The Indian government has offered to hold a special corruption debate with opposition lawmakers to break a deadlock that meant no legislation was passed in all of the last parliamentary session. Opposition MPs forced adjournments on every day of the winter session to demand a cross-party probe into a telecoms scandal, in which mobile phone licences were allegedly sold off in 2008 for a small fraction of their value.

"If they (the opposition) assure that there will be a debate, I am ready to call a special session of parliament before the budget session so that this issue is debated," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said late Wednesday.

Mukherjee asked the main opposition BJP to agree to the debate in parliament and "not destroy the institution itself".

But the BJP, which is keen to highlight a massive scandal that could have cost the treasury 40 billion dollars, said it stuck by its demands.

The party accuses Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has maintained a reputation for honesty amid India's murky political world, of failing to act over the scandal concerning the sale of second-generation (2G) mobile licences.

But the government has constantly refused calls for a cross-party probe, saying other independent investigations are underway, and parliament could again be deadlocked when it reconvenes for its budget session in February. New Delhi, (AFP)