Allies Shiv Sena, SAD complain of communication gap in NDA

The BJP's two major allies—Shiv Sena and Shiromani Akali Dal—have said there was lack of coordination and communication in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Akali Dal's Sukhbir Singh Badal conveyed this at a meeting of senior NDA leaders on Monday night, ahead of the budget session. They said that unlike in the Vajpayee regime when their views were taken into confidence, now only BJP MPs were being briefed, according to sources.

They said the "lack of coordination" within the ruling alliance would hurt the NDA. They also recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said there should be regular NDA interactions when he met the allies before the monsoon session.

BJP President Amit Shah, who was also present at the meeting at parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu's house assured more coordination among NDA partners in a bid to strengthen the alliance.

Senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj were also present at the meeting. Among the other allies present were TDP's Chandrababu Naidu, Shiv Sena's Anandrao Adsul, RPI's Ramdas Athawle and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel.

However, sources said it was a formal meeting and the government only heard the views of the allies. An all-party meeting was likely to be held on the eve of the session beginning on February 23.

The ruling side is expected to discuss its floor strategy with allies later, with opposition planning to raise issues like the Rohith Vemula suicide, president's rule in Arunachal Pradesh and minority status to AMU and JMI. In fact, the opposition parties had plans to approach some NDA allies to corner the government.

Meanwhile, in a bid to take an account on status of the pending bills, the parliamentary affairs ministry has also convened a meeting of all ministers and secretaries on Tuesday.