BJP leaders meet Sonia to seek cooperation in Parliament

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders on Friday met UPA Chairperson and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to seek her party's cooperation in the upcoming session of Parliament, which will commence from June 17.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, along with the Minister of State in his Ministry - Arjun Ram Meghwal, and Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar met Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence in Delhi.

After the meeting, which lasted for over 20 minutes, Tomar told the media: "We are meeting all the opposition leaders to request for their party's cooperation and smooth functioning of the Parliament."

On June 5, Joshi, along with the two ministers of state in his ministry - Meghwal and V. Muraleedharan - met Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, at his residence.

According to Congress sources, the government has convened an all-party meeting in the Parliament on June 16, a day ahead of the start of the Lok Sabha session, where it will seek the cooperation of all political parties to ensure a smooth session.

The first session of the newly-elected Lok Sabha will be convened from June 17 to July 26 and the new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will present its first Budget on July 5. The 40-day session will have 30 sittings. IANS