Radhakrishnan to meet leaders of various parties on Oct 7 in first formal interaction with them

New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) In his first formal interaction with leaders of various political parties, Vice President C P Radhakrishnan will be meeting them in the Parliament complex on October 7.

Among those invited by the Rajya Sabha Chairman are BJP president and leader of the house J P Nadda, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju along with his two ministers of state, Arjun Ram Meghwal and L Murugan, sources said..

The meeting, to be held in the Parliament's Annexe extension building at 4 PM on October 7, comes within a month of his assuming charge as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Radhakrishnan won the vice presidential election on September 9.

Among those invited for the meeting are leaders of various parties like TMC, DMK, AAP, RJD, BJD, AIADMK, CPI-M, NCP, CPI and JDS The leaders include Sharad Pawar, H D Devegowda, M Thambidurai, Derek O'Brien, Tiruchi Siva, Sanjay Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose Pilli, Sasmit Patra, Prem Chand Gupta, Sanjay Raut, Ram Gopal Yadav, John Brittas, Sandosh Kumar P, Praful Patel, Sanjay Kumar Jha, Ramdas Athawale, Birendra Prasad Baishya, Abdul Wahab, G K Vasan and K R Suresh Reddy, the sources said.

They said Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien will not attend the meeting called by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, as he will be in Kolkata on October 7. Sagarika Ghose will represent the TMC at the meeting. O'Brien will unveil the Mother Teresa statue in Kolkata to mark 75 years of the Missionaries of Charity outside the global HQ of the Missionaries of Charity.

The meeting comes days ahead of the Winter session of Parliament, which is likely to begin next month.

The exercise of meeting floor leaders is part of the Vice President's efforts to ensure better ties with opposition leaders, the sources said, adding that this could be seen as a familiarisation move.

Though some opposition leaders met Radhakrishnan on September 12 to congratulate him soon after he assumed charge as Rajya Sabha Chairman, the forthcoming meeting is considered his first formal meeting with the leaders of various parties.

His predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar, who suddenly resigned as vice president in July, had strained ties with the opposition which had also unsuccessfully moved a motion to remove him from office. PTI AO/SKC RT RT