An all-party meeting must be called to brief leaders of recognised political parties on the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and hear out their concerns too, CPI leader D. Raja said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr. Modi has called for a meeting of the floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, just six days before the 21-day lock down ends.
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Only the political parties which have five or more members have been invited for the interaction. The CPI, with one member in the Rajya Sabha and two in the Lok Sabha, finds itself excluded from meeting.
Many regional parties including the Telugu Desam Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party also face this predicament.
Mr. Raja rued that the meeting has been called far too late. “In fact this interaction should have happened during the last days of the last Budget Session or immediately after the adjournment of the Session,” he wrote.
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He said the meeting with the floor leaders must follow with consultations with the heads of all recognised political parties at the national and the State level in the face of the gigantic proportion of this health disaster.
“The government, political parties and all those who matter in shaping the political, economic and social course must come together and put their heads and efforts together to contain the disaster,” Mr. Raja wrote.
