Centre meets opposition leaders; seeks cooperation in smooth functioning of Houses

With Parliament monsoon session around the corner, Government on Monday met opposition leaders at Parliament library and discussed several key issues for a smooth functioning of both the Houses.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Vijay Goel reached out to leaders of opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, BSP leader Satish Chandra Misra, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rout and CPI leader D Raja to formulate strategies.

Goel also met leaders of TRS, BJD and others and sought their cooperation in the smooth functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

During their interaction, the union minister said the functioning of Parliament without any hindrances was the national duty of the ruling and opposition parties.

Read | BJP to come up with seat-sharing proposal within 4-5 weeks: Nitish Kumar

The discussion also stressed on the bills of national interest which are either pending or will be introduced in the upcoming session.

Earlier, Goyal also met former prime minister Manmohan Singh to seek the Congress' cooperation for a successful parliamentary session.

On being asked about the meeting of opposition leaders, Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "It was a conventional meeting. All 13 parties decided that we want to see the Parliament function. Last time also, opposition wanted both houses to run. But they didn't let Parliament work and we were blamed instead".

Meanwhile, the government has called an all-party leaders meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, wherein the views and opinions of all parties would be consulted for effective running of the monsoon session.

Read | Women’s Reservation Bill: Rahul Gandhi offers 'unconditional support' to Modi

The monsoon session of Parliament will commence from July 18 and end on August 10.

(With inputs from agencies)