Speaker, govt convene all-party meeting on Jan 30

Ahead of the Budget session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar have convened separate all-party meetings on January 30 to ensure smooth conduct of proceedings and to know the various issues the political parties seek to raise during the session.
Sources said while the government's meeting has been convened in the morning, the Speaker's dinner meet is in the evening.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to raise the issue of transparency in poll fundings during the meeting convened by the government with leaders of various political parties.
The meetings come a day before President Pranab Mukherjee addresses a joint sitting of the two Houses in the Central Hall of Parliament.

The Union Budget is slated to be presented on February 1 and the Economic Survey may also be tabled the same day.
The first half of the session will be a short affair and will end on February 9 as it is being held in the middle of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

A shorter first part will help parties focus on electioneering. The second half of the session will begin on March 9 and will conclude on April 12.
Sixteen Opposition parties had this month moved the Election Commission urging it to ask the government to present the Union Budget after the elections are over on March 8 so that it is not used as a tool by the NDA to influence voters in the five states.

While the Supreme Court today refused to give any directions to the government in this regard, the Commission's decision is long awaited.