PM Modi chairs key meeting with top ministers to discuss strategy for Winter Session

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a key meeting with senior ministers including Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday to chalk out the strategy for the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament. The meeting held in the Parliament premises was also attended by Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal.

The meeting was held to discuss various issues relating to the government's strategy for the final week of the Winter Session this year. 

After a chaotic week marred by continuous protests by opposition parties, the Parliament resumed the final week of the session on Monday. Until Friday, there was a growing demand in Lok Sabha for the resignation of Union Minister of State for Home, Ajay Misra, whose son Ashish is a prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

There also appears no resolution in the Rajya Sabha as a united opposition rejected the government's outreach to resolve the logjam, followed by the suspension of 12 MPs. Opposition members of the Upper House have been holding a protest at the Gandhi Statue demanding revocation of the suspension of the MPs.

Opposition rejects govt's invitation to leaders of 4 parties

The government on Sunday invited select members of the Opposition including the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, and the CPI(M) for a meeting to resolve the suspension issue. The meeting was to be convened by the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal at 10 a.m. on Monday. However, it stood canceled due to the Opposition boycott.

The suspended MPs are Elamaram Kareem of CPM [Communist Party of India (Marxist)] Phulo Devi Netam, Chhaya Verma, R Bora, Rajamani Patel, Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of INC (Indian National Congress), Binoy Viswam of CPI (Communist Party of India), Dola Sen & Shanta Chhetri of TMC (Trinamool Congress) and Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena. 

Meanwhile, the government is expected to table a bill to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act of 2006 this week seeking to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, bringing it on par with men. A proposal for the same was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week.