Parliament's monsoon session to test newly stitched Opposition bloc’s unity
The monsoon session will provide the parties with an opportunity to plan, and strike a balance between the pet issues of constituent parties.
Opposition parties that came together to form a mega alliance called INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) will meet on Thursday morning to discuss their strategy for the monsoon session of Parliament.
The session, scheduled from July 20 to August 11, will provide the parties with an opportunity to plan, demonstrate and act as a cohesive group and strike a balance between the pet issues of constituent parties. The parliamentary floor leaders of the INDIA will meet at Rajya Sabha’s Leader of Opposition and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber at 10am “to discuss the issues to be taken up in Parliament from day one of the monsoon session,” said a Congress leader.
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“This is going to be a very important meeting. We will see more coordination among the parties. All top leaders of INDIA have met twice in less than one month, first in Patna and then in Bengaluru. We have the name of our alliance and a plan in place. Therefore, in both Houses, we will have more coordination and more aggression,” said Congress Lok Sabha MP Manickam Tagore.
The INDIA members have already identified a number of issues to try and corner the government, including the Manipur situation, inflation, unemployment, federalism, the controversial ordinance on Delhi’s bureaucracy, and alleged misuse of investigating agencies.
In the all-party meeting chaired by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, the INDIA members already made it clear that they want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to either reply or issue a statement on the Manipur situation. The new alliance also wants the Delhi ordinance to be scrapped.
In the meeting on Thursday, the focus is expected to be on floor coordination. The parties will have to collectively decide on campaigns and floor strategy.
Tagore argued that 24 of the 26 parties of INDIA are present in Parliament. “Barring MMK and Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), all other parties have a parliamentary presence. The coordination will be better because this alliance was actually formed through floor coordination between different Opposition parties over the past 2.5 years,” he added.
An INDIA leader maintained on the condition of anonymity that every step – whether in Parliament or outside-- will be taken keeping the election in mind.Re
