Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday chaired an all-party meeting ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which is set to begin on Monday, July 21, and will continue till August 21. The meeting was attended by top Opposition leaders, including Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, Deputy Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and BJD MP Sasmit Patra, among others.
During the meeting that was held in the Main Committee Room of the Parliament House Annexe, the government sought cooperation from all political parties to ensure the smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament during the month-long Monsoon Session.
Several important legislations are scheduled for discussion and passage during the Monsoon Session.
Meanwhile, the Opposition INDIA bloc has shortlisted as many as eight key issues on which it will seek to corner the government during the session. The Opposition’s alliance held a virtual meeting today to shortlist the issues they would raise. The meeting was attended by representatives from all 24 constituents of the INDIA bloc.
“All 24 constituents of the INDIA bloc attended the meeting and unanimously shortlisted a host of issues, of which eight will be raised with prominence,” senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari stated.
These issues include the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, the Election Commission’s special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims of brokering an India-Pakistan ceasefire using trade, concerns over foreign policy, the demand for the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, rising atrocities against women, problems faced by farmers, unemployment, and issues related to safety and security.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has officially exited the INDIA alliance, has stated that it will raise several issues in the upcoming monsoon session, including the claims made by the US President regarding the ceasefire and the bulldozer action in Delhi.
“The first question is related to the security of the country and the manner in which the US President is repeatedly saying that he got the ceasefire done in the name of trade deal, so the Indian government should give a clarification on this. The Prime Minister should come to the House and give a statement, I will raise this matter. He is also talking about five jets being shot down which is not his job. I will raise it prominently on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party in today’s (all party) meeting,” said AAP MP Sanjay Singh.
He further added: “The second thing is the bulldozer action in Delhi. After giving the Prime Minister’s guarantee card, the people of UP, Bihar, Purvanchal, who used to run their lives by setting up small shops on carts, you have ruined them. I will raise this issue. More than 5,000 schools have been ordered to be closed in Uttar Pradesh. The plane crash, in which our own pilot is being blamed, that issue will also be raised. There is a big issue regarding Bihar elections, in which an election scam is happening openly, so that will also be raised.”