Pranab Mukherjee hosts lunch for BJP leaders

With the monsoon session of parliament beginning on July 26, a worried government took the first step to assuage the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Leader of Lok Sabha and the government’s principal troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee invited top BJP leaders, including NDA chairman LK Advani and leaders of opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, for lunch on Monday and held talks for about 90 minutes.

This was the first time that Congress and BJP leaders bonded after bitter verbal duals on many issues in the recent past. Sources said it was aimed at breaking the deadlock over several contentious issues.

Pranab sought cooperation to pass two bills which require amending the constitution, including one regarding the introduction of a general sales tax regime. This bill cannot be passed without cooperation of the opposition in both Houses.