Centre calls all-party meeting today ahead of winter session

NEW DELHI: With the winter session of Parliament slated to begin from Friday, the government has convened an all-party meeting on Thursday where the opposition is likely to raise the issue of a delay in calling the session.

The parliamentary affairs ministry has sent out invites to the leaders of major political parties that have representatives in both Houses of Parliament for the meet.

The winter session will be held from December 15 to January 5. There would be a total of 14 working days. Last year, the session began on 16 November and ended on 16 December, with 22 sittings.

The opposition has claimed that the ruling BJP delayed the session fearing that it would raise various contentious issues ahead of the Gujarat assembly polls. The government has, however, maintained that there were precedents of session dates being changed in view of elections. Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will also host a dinner meeting for the leaders of all parties on Thursday.

Two ordinances on insolvency code and amendment to the forest act need to be approved by Parliament in the winter session.