At all-party meet chaired by Narendra Modi in Parliament, Opposition seeks debate on farm distress, unemployment, drought

New Delhi: A day before the budget session, an all-party meeting convened by the government was held Sunday in which the opposition demanded that issues such as farm distress, unemployment and drought should be debated upon in Parliament.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting , attended by representatives of all parties, including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and TMC leader Derek O’Brien. After the meeting, Modi wrote on Twitter that leaders agreed to the “smooth running of Parliament”.

We had a fruitful all-party meeting today, the first one after the election results and before the start of the Monsoon Session. Thankful to the leaders for their valuable suggestions. We all agreed on the smooth running of Parliament so that we can fulfil people’s aspirations. pic.twitter.com/WhERafppKr

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 16, 2019

The Prime Minister has called a meeting of chiefs of all parties having representatives in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 19 June to discuss “one nation, one election” issue, celebration of 75 years of India’s Independence in 2022, 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary this year and issues of “aspirational districts”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said after the meeting. He said the PM has also called a meeting of MPs to discuss the issues on 20 June. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Azad said that all those bills which are in the interest of the people “we are not opposed to them”. There should be a discussion on farmers distress, unemployment and drought, he said.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi after all-party meeting: We have received suggestions from opposition parties as well as our allies. Prime Minister made concluding remarks that there are several new faces in the parliament, & new thoughts should come with them pic.twitter.com/obIDLdZLmi

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2019

Azad also called for early conduct of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, currently under President’s rule, asserting that if Lok Sabha polls can be held then why not state polls. It appears that the Centre wants to run the state through the Governor’s administration, he alleged.

Congress’s Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and K Suresh were also present at the meeting. TMC’s O’Brien demanded that the Women’s Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, be brought immediately in the session.

The first session of the newly-constituted 17th Lok Sabha will be held from 17 June to 26 July.