Amit Shah holds meeting with allies ahead of Parliament session

New Delhi: Facing opposition attack ahead of Budget Session, BJP chief Amit Shah on Monday held a meeting with allies for better floor coordination in Parliament and also decided to hold one-to-one meeting with them, some of whom complained against lack of coordination.

Shah will meet Akali Dal and TDP leaders on Tuesday and hold similar meetings with the other allies in the coming days. The Budget session is commencing on February 23.

Top NDA leaders, including union ministers Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh besides Shah, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu and SAD president Sukhbir Badal, attended the 90-minute long meeting held at the residence of Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.

Shiv Sena and Akali Dal raised the issue of "lack of coordination" in the ruling coalition and noted that there was better cohesion during the previous NDA government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

While Sena has been raising this issue for some time, it was joined today by Badal who stressed on the need for better coordination in the view of upcoming Punjab polls.

Taking note of the concerns, Shah assured them of having more frequent meetings starting from Tuesday. Briefing the media after the meeting, Venkaiah Naidu said the NDA leaders of nine parties deliberated over the issues likely to come up in the session and a common strategy.

Issues like Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula's suicide in the Hyderabad Central Univerity, Malda violence, imposition of President's Rule in Arunachal Pradesh were also deliberated. A suggestion was also made to hold meeting of NDA MPs on the line of the BJP parliamentary party so that they could be informed about the government's "pro-poor, pro-weaker sections, pro-farmer" initiatives and are in a position to counter the opposition attack.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said the NDA meeting should be taking up larger issues concerning the nation and ideas to take it forward and not remain confined to party- specific matters which, he added, should be dealt in one on one meetings.

BJP allies also asked for taking the issue of the land bill to a conclusion at the earliest in view of the possibility of the opposition using it to target the ruling alliance. An all-party meeting is also likely to be held ahead of the Budget session.