New Delhi: Leaders from various political parties came together on Tuesday for an all-party meeting called by the government before the upcoming Budget session in Parliament. The meeting, held at the Parliament House complex, saw representation from key figures including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, and Deputy Arjun Ram Meghwal.

Among those present were Congress' K Suresh, TMC's Sudip Bandopadhyay, DMK's T R Baalu, Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale, Samajwadi Party's S T Hasan, JD(U)'s Ram Nath Thakur, and TDP's Jayadev Galla.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, standing in for the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, addressed concerns about the recent "violent attack" during the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi in Assam, as well as the restrictions imposed by the state government. Tiwari criticized what he described as an "unwritten dictatorship" in the country and accused the central government of misusing investigative agencies like the CBI and the ED to target opposition leaders such as Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

This pre-session gathering serves as a platform for leaders to outline the issues they intend to raise in Parliament while also allowing the government to share its agenda and seek cooperation.

The Budget session, scheduled from January 31 to February 9, will be relatively brief this time, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting an interim budget ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The full-fledged budget will be presented by the new government.

The session will kick off with an address by President Droupadi Murmu.

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