Congress leaders skip the all-party meeting ahead of the Budget Session

New Delhi, Jan 30: An all-party meeting called by the government ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament began on Monday morning.

 

Deputy Leader of the House, Rajnath Singh, Parliament Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, Arjuna Ram Meghwal, and V Muraleedharan was among those present for the meeting held at the Parliament House Complex.

 

 

All top leaders from the opposition parties including DMK leader TR Balu, TMC leaders Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, TRS leaders K Keshava Rao and Nama Nageswara Rao were in attendance.

 

Other party leaders who were present include Vijayasai Reddy from YSR Congress, Farooq Abdullah from the National Conference, Professor Manoj Jha from the RJD and Ram Nath Thakur of JDU. Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) was represented by Priyanka Chaturvedi.

 

 

However, Congress leaders were absent from the meeting. Reports suggest that both Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were held up due to the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra that culminated in Srinagar today.

 

The all-party meeting is a customary meeting that takes place ahead of the start of every session of Parliament. During the meeting the Government will seek cooperation from all political parties to ensure the smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament during the Session.

 

The Budget Session of Parliament will commence on January 31 with the address by the President of India to a Joint sitting of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the Central Hall of Parliament. The Economic Survey will also be tabled in both Houses on the first day of the Session.

 

The Union Budget 2023-24 will be presented on February 1 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha. Later the Budget will be tabled in Rajya Sabha. From Thursday onwards, both Houses will have a discussion on the “Motion Of Thanks to the President Address” after which PM Narendra Modi will reply in both Lok and Rajya Sabha.

 

This part of the Budget Session will continue till February 13. The second part of the Budget Session will after a recess commence on March 13 and go on till April 6. A discussion will take place on the Demand For Grants for various ministries and the Union Budget will be passed. Other legislative business will also be taken up by the government during this period.