Meeting of NDA leaders postponed due to Ashok Singhal's death

 Government on Tuesday cancelled the meeting of NDA leaders convened on Wednesday to work out strategy ahead of the winter session of Parliament beginning November 26 that is expected to be stormy.

Sources said the meeting of NDA leaders scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed due to the death of VHP patron Ashok Singhal in a Gurgaon hospital today. His cremation will take place on Wednesday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu was to meet the leaders of all NDA allies at his residence to chalk out the government plans on its legislative business and floor coordination plans amid indications of the Opposition parties closing ranks on various issues.

Naidu will hold a meeting with NDA leaders later now and with all other Opposition parties within a week. Lok Sabha Speaker holds an all-party meeting a day or two before the Session begins. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh met here on November 9, a day after BJP's rout in Bihar polls, and decided to hold the session between November 26 and December 23.

Reaching out to the Opposition to pass key reform bills, Naidu had urged them not to interpret the Bihar polls result as a "mandate to disrupt Parliament".