24 INDIA Bloc parties to attend special Parliament session; Sonia Gandhi to write to PM Modi

New Delhi [India], September 6 (ANI): 24 parties of the INDIA Bloc have agreed to participate in the special session of the Parliament scheduled to begin on September 18. Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi will be writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of these 24 parties, sources said. 
This decision was taken at a meeting of INDIA Bloc floor leaders. 
The Floor Leaders of the INDIA alliance's parties meeting was held at the residence of Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on Monday evening. 
Issues that will be raised by the opposition parties in the Special Session of the Parliament were also finalised in the meeting. These issues will be given in writing to the government through the CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said sources. 
The INDIA bloc meeting was held amid the backdrop of the 'India versus Bharat' controversy which has triggered a huge political row in the country. 
In a surprise move, the official invites to heads of state for a dinner on September 9 in Delhi were drafted to be from the "President of Bharat" instead of the "President of India". 
Earlier last week, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi informed about the five-day special session of Parliament from September 18-22. 
The agenda for the special session was however not revealed yet. 
The Centre on Saturday constituted an eight-member committee to examine and make recommendations for holding simultaneous elections in the country. 
The members of the committee, apart from former President Kovind, include Union Home Minister Amit Shah; Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury; former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad; former Finance Commission chairman NK Singh, former Lok Sabha secretary general Subhash C Kashyap, senior advocate Harish Salve and former chief vigilance commissioner Sanjay Kothari.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament, which concluded last month, was held in the old Parliament building. The announcement of the Special Session came as a surprise in political circles with the parties gearing up for assembly polls in five states later this year. (ANI)