Ahead of winter session, govt calls all-party meeting today

With the winter session of Parliament beginning Thursday, the Government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday morning to reach out to the opposition parties to ensure smooth business in both Houses.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will also hold a meeting with leaders of all political parties on Wednesday evening to seek their cooperation in proper functioning of the House.

The meetings will be significant amidst anticipation that the session could be stormy as the opposition is planning to corner the government on various issues.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Parliamentary Party Executive and National Democratic Alliance constituents will also meet at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to firm up strategy for the session on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, opposition parties have closed ranks to target the government on a range of issues from intolerance to rising prices.

Parties including the Congress, the Janata Dal-United and the Left have already submitted their notices for adjournment motions, demanding a debate on the issue of intolerance and passage of a resolution condemning such incidents.

On the first two days of the session, the Houses will hold special sittings to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution on November 26, 1949 and honour its architect Dr  B R Ambedkar.

During nearly month-long session, around 30 bills, including GST and Real Estate regulation Bills, are slated to be taken up for consideration and passing.

Earlier on Tuesday, top union ministers held deliberations over the government's strategy in the upcoming session. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said the government's agenda is to run the Houses smoothly and get the bills passed by reaching out to the opposition.

Ministers of Home, Finance, External Affairs, Defence and Parliamentary Affairs, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Manohar Parrikar and M Venkaiah Naidu respectively, met to give final touches to their strategy.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, who also attended the meeting, said the government's agenda is to run the two Houses smoothly and get the  bills passed by reaching out to the opposition.