Government calls all-party meet before Parliament session
New Delhi: The government has convened an all-party meeting on June 16, a day before the first session of the newly elected Lok Sabha, informed sources said on Thursday.
The government will seek the support of the opposition parties in getting crucial bills passed in the session including one on triple talaq which among others were approved by the union cabinet on Wednesday, the sources said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and several Ministers have met opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad (Congress) to seek their support for a smooth functioning of Parliament.
Although the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has a whopping 353 members in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, it only has 102 members in the 245-seat Rajya Sabha.
Also on June 16, the newly constituted BJP Parliamentary Party Executive Committee will meet under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to chalk out its strategy for the session which will conclude on July 26.
Members of the NDA are likely to meet and finalize a strategy for the session.
Besides triple talaq, the bills likely to be introduced in the House are The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers Cadre) Bill, 2019 and Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2019.
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, which made instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) a penal offence, had faced objections from opposition parties which claimed that jail term for a man for divorcing his wife was legally untenable.
The first session of the Lok Sabha has been convened from June 17 to 26. The Economic Survey will be presented on July 4 and the Budget on July 5.
The 40-day session will have 30 sittings. The first two days have been kept for oath-taking by the new members. The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 19.
President Ram Nath Kovind will address the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on June 20. The subsequent days will see a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to his address.
