Burden of stalled bills: PM Narendra Modi calls all-party meet for smooth Budget session

NEW DELHI: With key bills hanging and amid already ominous signs of a stormy session ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of floor leaders of major political parties in both the Houses on Tuesday morning to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the Budget session.

The meeting, to be held in South Block, is a rare initiative from the Prime Minister. Till now, only Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has been convening all-party meetings.

As per convention, the Prime Minister usually walks in towards the end of the customary all-party meeting that is convened by the Lok Sabha Speaker on the eve of a Parliament session.

The Prime Minister appears to have taken the decision to convene this meeting due to the continuing deadlock and near washout of past sessions during the NDA dispensation. Sources said since the invitation from Modi is for the head of the Congress party and the Leader of the Opposition, the main opposition will be represented by Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday. Sonia Gandhi has decided not to attend.

As reported in ET, Vice President Hamid Ansari has also called an all-party meeting of the Rajya Sabha to ensure that the Upper House where NDA is in a minority functions without disruptions and important legislative business is conducted.

This is also an unprecedented move. Ansari’s meeting, in which Prime Minister Modi will also be present as he has been invited by the Vice President, will be held on February 17. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress Anand Sharma will represent the main opposition.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had invited Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh for high tea before the winter session of Parliament to get the main opposition on board on the Goods and Services Tax Bill. However, the meeting failed to get the desired result as Congress did not budge from its three points of contention on the GST Bill.