All-party meeting to be held today ahead of monsoon session of Parliament

The government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to deliberate on a host of issues related to Parliament's monsoon session, which will begin from July 20. It's a customary get-together on the eve of a session's start as various parties put across their issues at the meeting attended by senior government ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also participated in many such meetings.

A similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar has been deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties. While opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal. While Goyal is the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Joshi is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

Sources said it was in connection with the all-party meeting called by the government as they gave final touches to its points of view. Separate meetings of BJP leaders followed by those from the BJP-led NDA will also be held on Wednesday as the ruling bloc frames its strategy for the session.

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With the BJP and opposition parties sharpening attacks on each other as they gear up for a host of assembly polls this year and the Lok Sabha election next year, the Parliament session is expected to be stormy. The Congress and other opposition parties are seeking to corner the government over the Manipur crisis besides the issues of price rise and alleged misuse of probe agencies. The last session was also marred by frequent opposition protests.