Political Parties To Take...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[During their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, political parties of the country on Sunday expressed a unanimous desire to discuss 'other current issues,' including the fuel price hike, apart from the financial issues in the forthcoming budget session. The main agenda of the meeting was to seek cooperation from all sections of the House to ensure a smooth functioning of the session. The budget session will commence on 25 February 25. The three-month session will witness 35 sittings with a break from 21 March to 14 April 14. The session will continue till 9 May. Speaking to the members of the media after the meeting, Chatterjee said that though the house will concentrate on the forthcoming budget, it would not restrict the discussions to financial matters only. &ldquo;Today, all of us met (leaders of all the political parties) to chalk out an agenda for the budget session. The parties want to discuss issues like price rise, farmers' suicide and other such topics. We will also have a business advisory meeting,&quot; said Chatterjee. The forthcoming budget session would be the last one of the Congress led United Progressive Alliance ahead of the general elections next year. (ANI)