Speaker meets parties to break logjam in LS

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday met leaders of different political parties in a bid to break the impasse in the House, where opposition protests washed out proceedings for the 16th day.

The speaker met leaders from the Congress, including its leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia, AIADMK, Shiv Sena, Trinamool Congress, YSR Congress, TRS and BJD among others, official sources said.

Mahajan is also considering holding an all-party meeting if the logjam in the second phase of the Budget Session persists, they said.

The Congress, the sources said, wanted the House to first take up its notice for a no-confidence motion against the government but was told that the notice for a similar motion given by Thota Narasimham of the Telugu Desam Party is the first in the order of receipts.

The Congress notice is second followed by that of the YSR Congress, they said.

The speaker has also consulted Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar over efforts to break the deadlock.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have seen little business due to protests by parties over a host of issues since the second phase of the budget session started on March 5.

The government claimed that it was ready to participate in any debate and blamed opposition parties for the impasse. The opposition has, in turn, blamed the government.