Government holds all-party meeting in New Delhi ahead of the session
BY BISHESHWAR MISHRA
The government held an all-party meeting of the floor leaders in New Delhi today, ahead of a special session of parliament, which will begin tomorrow. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the deputy leader of the House in Lok Sabha; Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the leader of the House in Rajya Sabha; and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi represented the government in the meeting.
Several leaders of opposition parties including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and RJD leader Manoj Kumar Jha were also present in the meeting.
Addressing the media after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that 51 leaders of 34 parties participated in the meeting. He said the session will start in the existing parliament building tomorrow and it will be shifted to a new building on Tuesday. He said that the regular business this special session will start on Wednesday. Mr Joshi added that during the meeting the government has sought the cooperation of parties to run the session smoothly.
During the meeting, several opposition parties made a strong pitch for the passage of the Women Reservation Bill during the session. The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. In the meeting, leaders have also paid their tributes to forces personnel, who laid their lives in Jammu and Kashmir during the encounter. More from our Correspondent:-
The five day special session of Parliament will begin with a discussion on the Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha of its Achievements, Experiences, Memories, and Learnings. During the entire day, there will be discussions in both houses separately. On Tuesday, there will be a photo session in the parliament building, including a function at the center hall on completing 75 years of independence. After that, the session will be shifted to the new parliament building. From Wednesday the regular business will take place in the new parliament building. There are a total of eight Bills that will be taken up in this special session of Parliament including 4 bills that have been already listed. These four bills are the Appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner, and other election commissioners, The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, and The Post Office Bill.
Earlier in the day, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar hoisted the National Flag at New Parliament Building. The flag was hoisted at the top of Gaja Dwar of New Parliament Building. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also graced the occasion besides other dignitaries including Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh, Ministers of State of Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghawal and V Muraleedharan and Leaders of Political Parties in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
