Shinde reaches out to JD(U) on Food Security Bill

Sushilkumar Shinde held discussions with key NDA constituent JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav in a bid to evolve a consensus on the Food Security Bill.

New Delhi: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday held discussions with key NDA constituent JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav in a bid to evolve a consensus on the Food Security Bill. Shinde spoke to Yadav soon after government decided to make another attempt to evolve a consensus to get the bill passed in a special session of Parliament. Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has authorised Shinde, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Food Minister K V Thomas to meet opposition leaders to elicit their support. Nath is out of station and is expected to be in the capital tomorrow. The Cabinet today decided to put on hold its plans to bring an Ordinance on the bill in the face of opposition within and outside. Sources said a view in the Congress is that there is no need to handle the Food Security Bill issue like the Indo-US nuclear deal and government should reach out to the opposition to get its support. PTI