PM, Sonia meet to discuss ways to resolve Parl logjam

With proceedings in Parliament being disrupted, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday discussed ways to resolve the logjam over Walmart lobbying and quota in promotions issues.

Soon after Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned Tuesday morning, senior UPA leaders, who are members of the Congress Core Group, gathered at the Prime Minister's Office in Parliament House and are understood to have been briefed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath.

The two Houses were adjourned over Opposition uproar over reports that the US retail giant Walmart had employed a firm to lobby its case in India. Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have also been warring over the issue of SC/ST quota in promotions in government jobs.

Nath is also believed to have briefed the Congress top brass on the pending bills on financial matters, including the one to amend the banking laws.

Apart from the prime minister, Gandhi and Nath, Union ministers P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde attended the meeting among others, sources said.