Govt to talk to political leaders on passage of Triple Talaq bill in Budget session

NEW DELHI: The Government on Sunday said it would "leave no stone unturned" to ensure that the triple talaq bill was passed in Parliament's Budget session which starts on Monday, and said it would talk to various parties for a consensus on the issue. The government met leaders of political parties at a meeting in Parliament House on Sunday and sought their cooperation to ensure the success of the crucial session where the Union Budget will be presented. The all-party meeting was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Ananth Kumar, as well as leaders of opposition and other parties. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kumar described the meeting as "fruitful", and said the prime minister urged the leaders of the parties to make the session successful. "We will leave no stone unturned for the passage of the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha... We will approach various political parties to evolve a consensus for its passage. Like GST was passed by consensus, this bill seeking to ban the practice of instant triple talaq (Talaq-e-Biddat) among Muslims will be passed," he said when asked about the bill after the meeting. To a question about the demands of various parties during the last session that the bill be referred to a select committee, he said it was now the property of the Rajya Sabha. "Let the House decide," Kumar said. While the government wants to push the passage of the triple talaq bill during the session, it will present the Economic Survey on Monday after a joint address by the president. The General Budget will be presented by the finance minister on February 1. The opposition, however, said it planned to counter the government on issues such as incidents of rape and other atrocities on women, alleged attacks on the Constitution and constitutional institutions and the plight of traders, besides the recent incident of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh. The opposition has also asked the government to allow a discussion on these issues during the Budget session. Leaders of the opposition parties are likely to meet tomorrow to push for unity and to discuss ways to together corner the government. The BJP Parliamentary Party executive will also hold a meeting on Monday, which will be followed by one of NDA constituents who will also deliberate on their strategy for the session. "We want to raise these issues as they are important. The government should adopt a cooperative attitude and allow the opposition to raise these issues," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said. RJD leader Jaiprakash Narain Yadav also said the opposition would want the government to speak in Parliament on issues of public importance including communal violence and atrocities on women. The opposition was represented at the meeting by Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), D Raja (CPI), Kanimozhi (DMK), Derek O'Brien and Sudip Bandhopadhyay (TMC), Tariq Anwar (NCP) and Dushyant Chautala (INLD).