India / Parliamentary Affairs Min calls all-party meet before monsoon session

New Delhi: Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi has called an all-party meeting on July 18, a day before the monsoon session of Parliament begins. The meeting will take place at 11am.

An executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Parliamentary Party is also expected tp be held on the same day, according the news agency ANI. The floor leaders of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is also scheduled for the same day, ANI further reported.

The monsoon session of Parliament is scheduled to start from July 19. It will be the first session after the second wave of Covid-19. It will conclude on August 13 with 19 days of business.

Around 17 bills are listed for introduction in Lok Sabha, including and five bills for consideration and passage, and a similar number of bills are expected to be introduced in Rajya Sabha as well during the session.

The dates for the monsoon session were decided after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took stock of preparations earlier this week. The timings of the session will be from 11 am to 6 pm for both the Houses.

Birla said that those who have not been vaccinated against the coronavirus will be requested to undergo an RT-PCR test before entering the premises of Parliament during the session.

So far, 444 members of the Lok Sabha and 218 members of the Rajya Sabha have reportedly been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of the party's Parliament Strategy Group on Wednesday evening to discuss the various issues to be taken up by the party during the monsoon session of Parliament.

The leaders will discuss the party's strategy to take on the government during the session, people aware of the developments said.