Government holds all-party meeting ahead of Budget Session, Shiv Sena MPs give it a miss

Ahead of the Budget Session, which begins on Friday, an all-party meeting called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi was held on Thursday in Parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the meeting along with other Union Ministers, namely, Rajnath Singh, Thawar Chand Gehlot, Arjun Meghwal, V Muraleedharan, and others.

No MP from Sena attended the meeting

Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav was also present in the meet. BJD's Prasanna Acharya, NCP MP Supriya Sule, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad, RJD leader Manoj Jha, and many other MPs were present in the meeting. No MP from the Shiv Sena arrived for the all-party meeting.

'A structured debate should take place on every issue'

The session comes amid nationwide protests against the government's citizenship measures, including the amended citizenship law, with opposition parties putting up a united front against the Narendra Modi dispensation. Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi after the all-party meeting said, "The government is ready and the Prime Minister has said that not just a debate but a structured debate should take place on every issue."

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Ghulam Nabi Azad targets Centre

Addressing the media after the meeting, Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "Government is focussed only on getting Bills passed but we also drew their attention towards sinking economy, rising unemployment and Kashmir. We told them Farooq Abdullah be released so that he can attend Parliament and others should be released too."

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He added, "The government is least bothered about the people protesting on streets over CAA-NRC. This shows their arrogance. They are not bothered about farmers too. The opposition wants that these issues be discussed too and the government should be sensitive about it." The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

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(With agency inputs)