ProMASS News Bureau: Feb 20, 2016:
Rajya Sabha Chairman Mohammed Hamid Ansari has called a meeting of leaders of all parties of the House today to discuss the smooth functioning during ensuing Budget Session. The meeting is significant amid possibility of session beginning Tuesday to be stormy. This is perhaps the first such formal pre-session meeting convened by the Chairman.
The opposition parties are gearing up to raise the issues of JNU row, suicide of a Hydrabad University student and Arunachal Pradesh situation among others to corner the Government. On the other hand, the government is keen to push its legislative agenda including the GST and Real Estate Bills. During the session, the Rail Budget will be presented on 25th and General Budget on 29th of this month. The Rajya Sabha, where the NDA lacks majority, had seen repeated disruption during the Monsoon and Winter sessions with the Congress and several other opposition parties blocking key economic reform measures of the government.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu have also called separate all-party meetings on Monday. Since it is the first session of the new calendar year, it will begin with the address of President Pranab Mukherjee to the joint sitting of the two Houses.
