The Congress on Sunday sought the Lok Sabha deputy speaker’s position for the opposition in the all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Parliament session, and raised the issue of paper leaks, including of the prestigious NEET.
Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said the opposition should be allowed to raise issues in Parliament after parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju sought cooperation from every party for the smooth running of the two Houses.
Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav raised the issue of the Uttar Pradesh government’s controversial directive to eateries on the kanwariya route to display the owners’ names. The YSR Congress spoke about the TDP government’s alleged targeting of its leaders in Andhra Pradesh and sought the Centre’s intervention.
The government convened an all-party meeting at the Main Committee Room, Parliament House Annexe, New Delhi, ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and was convened by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is scheduled to begin on July 22 and will conclude on August 12. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union budget in Parliament on July 23.
Notable attendees include Tiruchi Shiva, AIUML leader E.T. Mohammad Basheer, Jana Sena Party leader Bala Krishna, BJD leader Sasmit Patra, JDU leader Sanjay Jha, Union Ministers Ramdas Athawale, Praful Patel, Chirag Paswan, and AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arjun Ram Meghwal, and BJP President JP Nadda are also present.
Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari said, “Traditionally, an all-party meeting is held so that we can raise issues related to the proceedings of the House. We want to discuss issues like inflation, unemployment, paper leaks, security issues related to China, removal of statues in Parliament, farmers, labourers, Manipur, rail accidents. We will also make full efforts to discuss the issue of NEET.”
However, leaders from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) were absent as they were in West Bengal observing Martyrs Day. The July 21 Martyrs’ Day is observed in memory of 13 Congress supporters who were killed in 1993 when the Kolkata Police opened fire during a march to the state secretariat, Writers’ Buildings, while the CPI(M)-led Left Front was in power in West Bengal.
At that time, Mamata Banerjee was the state Youth Congress chief. She has continued to commemorate the day with a rally each year, even after founding the Trinamool Congress on January 1, 1998.