Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu convened a meeting of all political parties on Saturday where the leaders agreed to stick to the Covid protocol prescribed by Parliament authorities during the upcoming monsoon session.

The Opposition parties hoped it would be a peaceful session and demanded time to discuss issues such as price rise and farmers’ distress.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were also present at the meeting. The Centre is keen to see the passage of about 25 Bills and clear two financial businesses during the session. The Ministers requested the cooperation of all parties for the smooth running of the session.

Also read: Monsoon Session: House may consider 25 Bills

The Opposition, on the other hand, is keen to make the Centre accountable on issues such as price rise, particularly that of petroleum products, the management of the second wave of Covid-19, workers distress, etc.

“The Government side assured us that all the problems can be discussed and requested cooperation from the Opposition parties. Naturally, we expect Parliament to function in a meaningful way. Parliament should be a place to discuss people's issues. We specifically demanded that the concerns and issues raised by the smaller parties should also have a place in the House,” CPI MP Binoy Viswam said after the meeting.