Vice-president hamid ansari calls for all-party meeting ahead of budget session to prevent washout

This is perhaps the first such formal pre-session meeting convened by the Rajya Sabha Chairman. Significantly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been invited for the meeting, which aims

at ensuring a smooth three-month long session.  Ansari had also held an informal meeting with leaders of Congress and BJP in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday as well.  Rajya Sabha, where the

government lacks majority, had seen repeated disruption in the Monsoon and Winter sessions with Congress and several other opposition parties blocking key economic reform measures of the

Modi government.  Repeatedly voicing his anguish over the disruptions, Ansari had in the past even toyed with the idea of possible changes in rules for smooth running of the House.  As the

Winter session of Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on December 23, Ansari had lamented that the record of this session belied the commitment to the principles of the Constitution "in

good measure".  Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu have also called separate all-party meetings on February 22, a day before the

crucial session begins.  Naidu had also held a meeting of leaders of a number of opposition parties on February 4 where it was decided to have a full-length session and not to go for any

curtailment of its duration even as assembly elections in five states are scheduled in between.  The government is keen to push its legislative agenda in the Budget session, including the

pending bills on GST and real estate thwarted in the last two sessions, while the opposition is raring to target it on a host of issues, including the JNU row, dalit scholar Rohith

Vemula's suicide, imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh, terror attacks in Pathankot and Gurdaspur.  Raising questions over the process of the appointment of Vice

Chancellors of JNU and Delhi University, a number of opposition parties have come together against the government, accusing it of "undermining" the autonomy of the institutions. 

Naidu had last month met Congress President Sonia Gandhi seeking cooperation for the early passage of the crucial GST and the real estate bills.