Govt calls Oppn over breakfast after sugar row

After the storm on sugar pricing issue, the government has convened a breakfast meeting with leaders of all political parties tomorrow in a bid to ensure smooth running of Parliament.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the Leader of the Lok Sabha, has invited the floor leaders for an informal interaction that is being seen as a ‘let-us-come-closer’ plan.

There has been sizeable official business on the agenda before the month-long session which concludes on December 21.

The first two days of the winter session, which began on Thursday, saw stalling of proceedings of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha by a united opposition protesting against the Sugar Control Ordinance with farmers converging on the capital to press for the demands.

With the sugar pricing issue amicably resolved, the meeting tomorrow is expected to see the Government to seek cooperation of all political parties.

Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh said that no agenda has been fixed for tomorrow’s meeting, which meant that parties were free to raise any issue about which they feel strongly during the interaction.