PM Modi to Chair All-Party Meeting on Friday to Discuss Covid-19 Situation as Cases Surge

A crucial all-party meeting of the floor leaders of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has been convened virtually on December 4 to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country.

The meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have top ministers of the government, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, Arjun Ram Meghwal and V Muraleedharan, along with Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, present among a host of other officers.

The virtual meeting will begin at 10.30 in the morning and floor leaders will be invited to make statements which will likely see a reply at the end by PM Modi.

Sources in the parliamentary affairs ministry told CNN-News18 that an invitation has already been extended to all the floor leaders to be present for the meeting.

Unlike the previous times, this time all floor leaders, including those who have less than five MPs, have been invited for the meeting though sources say they may not get a chance to speak.

This comes at a time when the winter session of Parliament is unlikely to happen because of the rise in Covid-19 cases in the national capital. It is likely that the next session of Parliament will happen towards the end of January with the budget session being merged with the winter session.

There has been a lot of speculation as to when India will get its Covid-19 vaccine. This meeting is said to be crucial from the point of view of confidence-building measure for the nation and the government initiative to take everybody along.

The last time such a meeting was held by the Prime Minister was during the lockdown on April 20.