Delhi: NDA all-party meet begins ahead of Parliament winter session

The National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) all-party meeting has begun on Sunday, November 17, at the Parliament Library Building, ahead of the winter sessions of Parliament. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had called on the meeting. According to reports, Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Thawarchand Gehlot, Arjun Ram Meghwal are attending the meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also arrived for the meeting. The Parliament winter session will commence on Monday and end on December 13. 

PM Modi attends the meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday arrived at the Parliament Library Building for the all-party meeting that is currently underway. Apart from the BJP leaders, opposition leaders such as TDP's Jaydev Galla, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Satish Mishra of BSP are participating in the meeting. Further, TMC lawmakers Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, LJP lawmaker Chirag Paswan, RPI leader Ramdas Athawale, AIADMK's Navneet Krishnan and Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal (S) are also present in the meeting. Other leaders including MDMK's Vaiko, TK Rangarajan of CPM, TR Balu of DMK, YSRCP's V Vijayasai Reddy, Manoj Jha of RJD and Ram Gopal Yadav of SP are attending the meeting. 

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Shiv Sena skips NDA all-party meeting

Amid the tussle with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, who is one of BJP's oldest allies decided to skip the NDA's all-party meeting. Shiv Sena broke its alliance with BJP after the tussle over Maharashtra government formation. After this, the party sought a coalition with the NCP and Congress. 

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Lok Sabha speaker chairs an all-party meeting

The all-party meet ahead of the winter season in Parliament began on Saturday afternoon, November 16. Lok Sabha Speaker OM Birla had called on the meeting. Reports stated that several leaders like DMK’s TR Balu, TMC’s Sudip Bandopadhyay, MoS Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal attended the meeting. Along with it, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Patel and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were also present in the meeting. 

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Landmark bills passed in Monsoon Parliament session

The winter session will be the second session since Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to the office with a bigger majority for a second successive term. The last Monsoon Parliament session saw some crucial bills being passed such as Triple Talaq, National Investigation Agency Act including the landmark bill of the scrapping of Article 370 in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act. It remains to be seen whether the BJP-led government introduces the Citizenship Amendment Bill or the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the Winter sessions. 

Read | Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to chair an all-party meet ahead of winter session