 "Monsoon Session starts on Monday, GST Bill in focus")
With the Monsoon Session of the Parliament beginning today, the government is preparing to push major reform bills including the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
The government yesterday called an all-party meeting to seek the support of opposition parties in the passage of pending legislations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday reached out to the opposition parties to ensure passage of the GST Bill, while urging all to keep national interests above all issues.
Hoping for a meaningful Monsoon Session of Parliament, Prime Minister Modi said the GST Bill is of national importance.
The ongoing unrest in Kashmir Valley, inflation and foreign policy was also discussed in the meeting.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had convened an all-party meeting yesterday to ensure smooth functioning of the Parliament.
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The session will have 20 working days and will conclude on August 12.
A total of 25 bills are expected to come up for passing and consideration during the session.
The government has reached out to the main opposition party for the passage of the GST Bill, while the Congress is also fine tuning its strategy on the legislation.
Ahead of the session, top Congress leaders met party chief Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday and chalked out strategy on crucial issues, including the GST Bill.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad and other senior party leaders including Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia attended the meeting.
This came a day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar had a meeting with Azad and Anand Sharma.
The two ministers discussed all points to bring Congress on board on the GST Bill.
The opposition party is also expected to corner the government in Parliament on the recent Arunachal Pradesh issue in wake of the Supreme Court judgment reinstating the Congress regime in the state.