Centre, Opposition meet to discuss issues to be taken up in Budget Session; triple talaq, rape cases on agenda

New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament beginning on Sunday, representatives of the government and the Opposition met on Sunday to discuss the issues and proposed legislation which would come up. [caption id=“attachment_4282649” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] While the government wants to push the bill on instant triple talaq pending in the Rajya Sabha along with the one which seeks to grant constitutional status to the OBC Commission, the Opposition plans to counter the government on issues such as rising incidents of rapes, alleged “attack” on constitutional institutions and the plight of traders. “We want to raise these issues as they are important. The government should adopt a cooperative attitude and allow the opposition to raise these issues,” Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said ahead of the meeting. While Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are representing the government at the meeting, the Opposition is being represented by Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress) Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), D Raja (CPI), Kanimozhi (DMK), Derek O’Brien and Sudip Bandhopadhyay (TMC) and Tariq Anwar (NCP). Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some other Opposition leaders are likely to join the meeting shortly.