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Opposition’s INDIA alliance leaders met virtually to unify their strategy for the monsoon session.
Leaders of the INDIA bloc hold a virtual meeting to strategise ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.(X-@Jairam_Ramesh)
Leaders of the opposition’s Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) met held a meeting on Saturday to forge consensus on issues and unify their strategy for the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, beginning Monday.
The alliance aimed to collectively corner the government on various issues like Pahalgam attack terrorists not identified yet, US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of brokering ceasefire and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said that the leaders of 24 opposition parties held a virtual meeting where they decided to raise several issues during the parliament session.
What Was Discussed In The Meeting?
In the meeting, the opposition bloc decided to raise eight major issues like foreign policy “failure” and “atrocities” in Gaza, delimitation exercise and “targeting” of SCs/STs, women and minorities in the country.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the Congress’ deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari, said the opposition parties would expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be present in Parliament and respond to the issues raised on the floor of the House.
“We discussed the strategy on how we should raise the atrocities and failures of this government that is affecting the people. I am happy to inform that leaders of all 24 parties participated in the meeting,” he said as quoted by news agency PTI.
“Eight major issues have been taken up prominently by us. Besides these, several regional and people’s issues will also be taken up by the opposition,” Tiwari said.
He also said that an in-person meeting of the bloc leaders would take place “soon” after today’s “successful and cordial” online meeting.
The Congress has resolved to take up issues like the demand for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, besides raising farmers’ problems, unemployment and rising prices.
Who All Attended The Meeting?
Leaders of 24 political parties, including the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, SP, NCP-SP, Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, CPI-M, CPI, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc, IUML and Kerala Congress, participated in the discussions.
Leaders who participated included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, NCP (SP)’s Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray (SS-UBT), Abhishek Banerjee (TMC), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Tiruchi Siva (DMK) M A Baby of CPI-M, D Raja (CPI), CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, among others.
Incidentally, several senior leaders of the group, including chief ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu — Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin — were not present in the meeting.
Notably, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is a founding member of the bloc, decided to opt out of the Saturday online meeting after it announced that it is no longer a part of the alliance.
(With inputs from agencies)
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
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