By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress core group met here Wednesday to discuss the current political situation and the strategy for budget session starting Feb 21, with the government hoping to pass key bills and the opposition set to raise contentious issues.
According to party sources, the core group, headed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, met at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official residence here.
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel were present in the meeting. Shinde is Leader of House in the Lok Sabha.
With the BJP adamant on an apology from Shinde over his “saffron terror” remark and a debate on the alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal, the core group discussed the strategy to counter the opposition during the session, said party sources.
Opposition leaders have told Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath that they would like to raise other controversial issues such as price rise and hanging of parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Kamal Nath said the government would find a solution to the Shinde remark issue. On the chopper deal, the government is ready for a parliamentary probe.
Among the key legislations the government wants to pass are the companies bill, judicial accountability bill, Lokpal bill, food security bill and the land acquisition bill.