Crucial Cabinet meeting begins amid 5-day Special Parliament Session

A key meeting of the Union Cabinet that has been called on the first day of the Parliament’s five-day special session – has begun, according to people aware of the development, though the agenda for the meeting is still not clear. Several important meetings are being held in the Parliament premises ahead of the cabinet meeting. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi met Home Minister Amit Shah. BJP chief JP Nadda was also present in the meeting. Goyal and Joshi are also scheduled to meet PM Modi. A list of eight bills which will be taken up for discussion in the special session was given to the opposition by the Union government in an all-party meeting on Sunday. The controversial bill for the appointment of election officers, which was previously believed to be part of the agenda, has been scrapped amid protests by the opposition parties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the discussion on the ‘Parliamentary journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha – achievements, experiences, memories and learnings’ in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Prime Minister referred to the Parliament shifting to the new building on Tuesday and said “bidding goodbye to this building is an emotional moment”. Referring to the era of former PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri to Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, PM Modi said that they have given new direction to the country under their able leadership and today is an occasion to highlight their achievements. The five-day special session of the Parliament started earlier on Monday with an address by PM Modi in the Lok Sabha. He spoke about significant historical events that have taken place in the old premises of the Parliament, and said that even though House proceedings will move to the New Parliament building tomorrow, the old building will continue to inspire generations.