The President's address and the Budget are the only things taken up in the first half of the session: Government

During the all-party meeting on Monday, Rajnath Singh said that only the President's address and the tabling of the Budget are scheduled for the first half of this session.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi convened the all-party meeting ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget on Tuesday.

As for the second half of the meeting, Joshi said other issues can be discussed.

He added, "We have indicated that the government is ready to discuss all issues as long as the parties cooperate in the smooth functioning of the Parliament.".

In addition, he asked that the Session be smooth for the government.

"The session will have 29 sittings (10 sittings on the first day and 19 sittings on the second day) spread over 68 days, and representatives of all the parties are agreeing to work with the government for smooth functioning of Parliament," Joshi stated.

According to the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, both the President's address and the Union Budget will be debated in Lok Sabha for 12 hours each.

It will be decided after the Upper House's Business Advisory Committee meets how long the Rajya Sabha debate will last.

Defending the position of the government that the Pegasus snooping issue is subjudice, he said the case is in the Supreme Court.

In response to the points raised by the leaders of all parties, Rajnath Singh thanked them all for the healthy discussion that was held in the meeting and stated that the House was not going to stall.

Responding to the points made by the leaders of the parties, he said they could identify topics on which discussions should take place. Other Union Ministers present at the meeting were Piyush Goyal, Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan.