Somnath Chatterjee to meet NDA leaders today

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will meet National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders here this evening ahead of the budget session of Parliament.

New Delhi, Feb 21 : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will meet National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders here this evening ahead of the budget session of Parliament.

The meeting will be followed by dinner hosted by the Speaker.

As there is no specific agenda behind the meeting, but just to seek cooperation from all sections of the House to ensure a smooth run of the session.

On Saturday, Chatterjee will hold consultations with non-Congress and non-NDA parties leaders, which will be followed by lunch. The invitees include the Left parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and several UPA constituents.

The same evening, the Speaker, will have a meeting with Congress leaders. He will host a dinner also.

On Sunday, Chatterjee has called an all-party leaders meeting at the Parliament House Library building. The meeting will also be followed by a lunch.

The budget session will commence on February 25. The three-month session will witness 35 sittings with a break from March 21 to April 14. The session will continue till May 9.

Railway Minister Lalu Yadav will present the Rail Budget for 2008-09 on February 26. Finance Minister P Chidambaram will present the General Budget for 2008-09 on February 29.

ANI