Monsoon Session: Modi holds meeting to discuss govt's strategy

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held a meeting with top ministers to discuss the government's strategy in Parliament.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Anurag Thakur and Kiren Rijiju are amongst those present in the meeting.

This development comes as Opposition parties continued to force adjournment in the two Houses of Parliament on Wednesday over their demands related to price rise and imposition of GST by the government on some items of daily use.

On the other hand, floor leaders of all Opposition parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha met at the office of Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament on Thursday.

Apart from the Congress, Opposition party's leaders of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Shiv Sena and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) were present in the meeting.

Lok Sabha saw two adjournments before it was adjourned for the day on the third day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned for the day after lunch following an earlier adjournment. Opposition parties also held a protest near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament to press their demands.

During the protest near Mahatma Gandhi's statue, opposition leaders accused the government of disrupting the common man's budget due to revised GST rates on several items of daily use.

Leaders of opposition parties including the Congress, NCP, DMK and Left raised slogans against the government demanding a rollback of the hike in GST rates on commodities like curd, bread and paneer.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were among those present. In the Lok Sabha, the opposition parties staged protests during the question hour.

The Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced on July 18 and will continue till August 12. There will be 18 sittings during the Session