NDA partners seek coordination panel

NEW DELHI: Parties in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday sought a committee for better coordination among the coalition partners, a demand that came against the backdrop of the severing of ties between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena.

In his introductory remarks at the NDA meeting, not attended by the Sena, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said NDA allies may have different ideologies but they are like one big family and should not get unsettled by small differences. Modi also asked NDA lawmakers to ensure good attendance in the House.

Newly appointed Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said, “We have requested Prime Minister to form an NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Coordination Committee or appoint an NDA convener for better coordination between alliance partners.”

“I personally felt the absence of Shiv Sena in the meeting today, it was one of the oldest allies of NDA. It’s a matter of concern that the Telugu Desam Party left the alliance first and then the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party,” he said.

The meeting came a day before the start of the winter session of Parliament on Monday. The session will continue till December 13.

The meeting, also attended by Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP’S working president JP Nadda, was called for better floor management and coordination during the winter session.

Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena fell out with the BJP over sharing of chief minister’s post after the two allies won a comfortable majority in last month’s assembly polls in Maharashtra.

The lone Sena MP in the union cabinet, Arvind Sawant, quit as a minister on November

NEWDELHI: Former Union minister and Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant will have to leave his coveted front row of the Lok Sabha and shift to a seat in the third row, as a result of the formal split between the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party following the Maharashtra assembly election. Other 17 MPS of the party, too, will change their place but there would be hardly any physical change of the sitting positions.

Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday said: “Shiv Sena has opted for new seating arrangement and they are trying to tie up with the Congress. Their Minister has also resigned, so we are allotting them new seats.” Sena has 18 MPS in Lok Sabha, and three in the Rajya Sabha. Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai will no longer occupy seats in the treasury benches in Rajya Sabha.

Sena attended the allparty meeting convened by the government but skipped the meeting of the NDA as a result of the fallout. As a result of the Sena’s shift to the Opposition, the cumulative strength of the non-nda parties crossed the 200mark in Lok Sabha. In the Rajya Sabha, the Opposition gained 3 MPS.

11 after accusing the BJP of not honouring its power-sharing promises in Maharashtra.