Seeking the cooperation of all parties in the functioning of Parliament during the Budget Session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the House was a ‘mahapanchayat’ that should function despite differences that may crop up during poll season.

After the Winter Session was washed out due to protests over demonetisation, Modi reached out to the Opposition on the eve of the Budget Session at an all-party meeting called by the government, that was attended by all major parties except Trinamool Congress, which has been unhappy over the note ban and arrest of its MPs in chit-fund cases.

The government, however, asserted that the Budget will be presented as scheduled, rejecting the Opposition’s allegations that it will affect the upcoming Assembly elections.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters that Prime Minister Modi sought the support of all parties and said that “in election time, there can be some differences among us, but Parliament is a mahapanchayat. It should function.”

Kumar said all parties responded positively and said they, too, wanted the House to function smoothly.

Rejecting the Opposition’s allegation that government should not have advanced the session as early presentation of the Union Budget will impact the level-playing field during upcoming state assembly elections, the Minister said Supreme Court and Election Commission have already given their judgement on this.

“The government’s efforts will be that the Budget should benefit all and takes the country forward,” Kumar said.

Earlier speaking to reporters, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the Centre should not have advanced the Budget Session, and cited a similar situation in 2012 when the then UPA government had postponed the session due to iminent Assembly elections.

Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury demanded that there should be a discussion on demonetisation also during the first phase of session.

“We have told the government that there should be discussion on demonetisation for two days as the people across India have suffered due to this irrational move of the government,” Yechury told reporters.

He also said the presentation of Budget on February 1 is “non-scientific” as it will not take into consideration the statistical data of the third quarter which is only released in mid-February.

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