Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to convene a meeting of leaders of major political parties on Tuesday in a bid to build consensus before the crucial Budget session of the Parliament, starting later this month.
The budget session is likely to be stormy as the opposition parties will attempt to corner the Modi government on several contentious issues such as the President’s Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, Pathankot terror attack and JNU row.
PM Modi’s exercise is aimed at ensuring smooth functioning of the budget session in the backdrop of virtual washout of proceedings in the last two sessions due to a host of issues.
Quoting a government official, PTI news said, “He will seek their cooperation to run the Houses smoothly.”
Significantly, this is the first such meeting convened by the Prime Minister who has come under attack from a section of the Opposition, particularly the Congress which has accused him of being hell-bent on confrontation and failing to take other parties into confidence.
However, the government sources clarified that Modi’s meeting with the opposition leaders wasn’t an all-party meet and key bills to be presented in parliament will not be discussed in today’s meeting.
This meeting assumes significance because it’s being held at the backdrop of Modi’s scathing criticism for the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the Vice President Rahul Gandhi accusing them of stalling parliamentary proceedings. He said both leaders were doing so to avenge the defeat of Lok Sabha elections defeat in 2014.
Without wasting time, Sonia Gandhi had hit back at Modi, saying efforts were made to “suppress her party’s voice” whenever it tried to raise issues concerning the poor and common man in the House.