Govt. ready to discuss all issues: Venkaiah Naidu

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday that the government is ready to discuss all issues, including inflation and the evolving situation with regard to Indians stranded in Iraq during the 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and leaders of other parties for attending the all party meeting called by him this morning before proceedings in Parliament were to begin; Naidu described it as a nice beginning, where all leaders gave their suggestions.

"The government has no reservation on any issue. We are ready to discuss on each and every issue depending on its national importance, and also admissibility of the same by respective presiding officers. We are very clear that parliament should have a meaningful discussion so that it can come out with a good conclusion," said Naidu.

Talking about the chairmanships of Standing Committees, Naidu said all parties will be represented in them, but added that chairmanship would be decided as per rules of the House.

On the issue of Leader of Opposition (LoP), he said, "No one raised the issue of LoP in the all-party meet. There are opposition leaders, but there is no question of not having an opposition leader. We have leaders, not a leader, and we will take them into confidence from time to time."

Naidu, however, used the occasion to criticize Congress leader Kamal Nath over his statement of moving the court if the LoP status is denied to his party.

"It is really unfortunate that such a comment has been made by a senior member of the opposition party. I am confident that the speaker will always go by the rule book, by the practices, by the precedents. Once a speaker is elected, he or she is above the party. That is the principle on which our parliament functions. Kamal Nath must have spoken on the backdrop of his experience," Naidu added.

The 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament will begin from today and will have 28 sittings.

During this period, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government's first Railway and General Budgets on July 8 and July 10 respectively.

The Economic Survey will be released on July 9. The session will end on August 14.

During the session, the Congress-led Opposition is likely to put pressure on the government on issues such as inflation, the hike in rail and fuel fares, womens' safety and the communal flareup in Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad District.

The Congress may also push its case for the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha on grounds that it has the most seats (44) in the opposition.

The Trinamool Congress and Left parties have said they will seek a discussion on inflation, internal security and federalism after the presentation of the Rail and General Budgets.

The government is also expected to make a statement in both Houses of Parliament on the plight of Indians in strife-torn Iraq.