Opposition to huddle before taking call on attending all-party meet on simultaneous poll

Opposition parties are wary of the meeting convened by the prime minister as they feel this might be a "trap" set by the BJP and needs proper discussion before going ahead, sources said.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi with Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, NCP leader Supriya Sule after a meeting to decide their strategy in Parliament in New Delhi Tuesday June 18 2019. | PTI

NEW DELHI: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday chaired a meeting of opposition leaders at Parliament on the second day of the commencement of the Budget Session.

Sources said that the meeting which was held to discuss the strategy of the Opposition parties on ‘Simultaneous Polls’, ended inconclusively on Tuesday evening.

Sources said that the meeting ended without a decision on the subject on Sunday after many opposition parties skipped it.

A decision might be taken on Wednesday regarding this.

The meeting was attended by several opposition leaders including DMK leader Kanimozhi, CPI leader D Raja and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah.

Sources said that as Congress is the biggest Opposition in Lok Sabha, it also has the responsibility to play a key role to provide a strong opposition on the floor of the House. The party would also use the session to chalk out a common agenda with like-minded parties.

Sources suggested that the discussion of the Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha also took place during the opposition meeting.

Besides, the party also discussed the selection of the Lok Sabha Speaker and decided not to oppose the NDA choice - Rajasthan lawmaker Om Birla, who is from the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Congress held its Parliamentary Party strategy group meeting earlier on Tuesday, which was attended by Sonia Gandhi, party president Rahul Gandhi and former president Manmohan Singh, among others.

Sources claimed that the Congress meeting took place to discuss the strategy that the party can undertake during the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Over the last two days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached out to the opposition, emphasizing that it has a huge role in democracy irrespective of numbers.

PM Narendra Modi will be holding an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss "one nation, one election" among other key issues. The PM has invited the heads of all political parties having representatives in Parliament on Wednesday to freely interact and exchange views with the government.