Narendra Modi chairs all-party meeting at Parliament ahead of Budget Session; Derek O’Brien, Farooq Abdullah among Opposition leaders present

New Delhi: An all-party meeting began at the Parliament on Sunday, ahead of the first Parliament session of the 17th Lok Sabha on 17 June.

Among those who arrived for the meeting were Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi and leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Thawar Chand Gehlot.

Other leaders cutting across party lines such as - V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP, Derek O’Brien of TMC, Farooq Abdullah of National Conference, NCP’s Supriya Sule, Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (Sonelal), AAP’s Sanjay Singh and Jayadev Galla of TDP, arrived for the meeting convened by the government.

The Centre will seek the Opposition’s support in passing crucial bills, such as one on triple talaq. Joshi and several others have met Opposition leaders, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad, to seek their support for the smooth functioning of Parliament.

Delhi: All party meeting underway at Parliament, ahead of the first Parliament session of 17th Lok Sabha tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/030O4Se2Qa

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2019

After the all-party meet, a meeting of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders will take place in the Parliament later in the evening to discuss strategies for the upcoming session. BJP parliamentary party executive committee meeting is also scheduled to be held today evening.

On Friday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held a pre-budget consultation meeting with leading economists ahead of the forthcoming general Budget 2019-20. This was her sixth pre-Budget consultation meeting with officials and representatives of social sector groups.

Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav, and Thawar Chand Gehlot, leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha arrive at Parliament to attend the all party meeting. pic.twitter.com/OXtyRXaETv

— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2019

The first session of the 17th Lok Sabha will be convened from 17 June 17 to 26 July during which the Union Budget will be presented by the new government on 5 July.

On the first two days, new MPs will take oath. The election for the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha is scheduled to be held on 19 June.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has a whopping 353 members in the 545-seat Lok Sabha, but it has only 102 members in the 245-seat Rajya Sabha.