Mumbai, Feb 4: Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari will inaugurate the 14th All India Whips Conference (AIWC) here today.

The two-day conference is being held in Maharashtra after a gap of 42 years. The first meeting of AIWC was held at Indore in 1952. So far, 13 such meetings have been held with last being held at Hyderabad in 2005.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will also participate in the conference.

Around 130 delegates from all over the country are likely to take part in the conference hosted by the Maharashtra Legislature.

The issues pertaining to the role of whips in the context of coalitions, the increasing disruptions in the Parliament and the State Legislatures and the need for support for research and study will be discussed during the conference.

The issue of only parties with members constituting one-tenth of the total strength of the house having their whips will also be considered during the discussion.

The conference provides a useful forum to the Whips of various political parties - ruling as well as opposition, at the Center as well as in the States - to sit together, exchange their views, thoughts and experiences, discuss difficulties confronted by them in the discharge of their parliamentary duties and evolve certain well-considered norms for efficient working of the parliamentary machine in the country.
(ANI)