NEW DELHI, July 13: Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of top party leaders on July 15 to finalise strategy for the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament, which is expected to be stormy with the opposition raring to raise several issues like EC’s special intensive revision in Bihar and Operation Sindoor.
Sources said the Parliamentary strategy group meeting would be attended by the Leaders of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, besides the deputy leaders in both houses and the chief whips and whips of the party.
The meeting will be chaired by Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence and will also be attended by some senior leaders who are part of the strategy group.
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The government has announced that the Monsoon session of Parliament will begin on July 21 and continue till August 21, a week longer than planned earlier, signalling a heavy legislative agenda.
The sources said the Congress is likely to take up the issues of special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar being carried out by the Election Commission (EC) ahead of the assembly polls.
It has joined several opposition parties in challenging the SIR in the Supreme Court and senior Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Singhvi is arguing the case.
The Congress wants the SIR to be scrapped, alleging that it is “unconstitutional” and is aimed at disenfranchising around two crore voters in the state.
The Congress is also likely to seek answers from the government on what it claims were “lapses and losses” during Operation Sindoor and the circumstances that led to the cessation of hostilities following US President Donald Trump’s claims of mediation in the India-Pakistan conflict to avert a nuclear war.
The government has rejected Trump’s claims with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling him, during a phone call last month, that India has never accepted mediation and would not ever accept it in future.
The INDIA bloc parties have been demanding a debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor — the strike on terror sites in Pakistan-controlled areas by the Indian armed forces in response to the April 22 massacre by terrorists in Kashmir.
The issue of US tariffs against India is also likely to be taken up during the discussions, besides the state of the economy, prices and unemployment.
The issue of impeachment of Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court is also likely to come up as the notice for moving a motion for his removal is also pending before the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
The Congress has objected to certain remarks by Justice Yadav which it alleged are “communal” and not expected from a person holding such a position.
Once the strategy on issues that the party wants to raise in Parliament is finalised, the Congress will speak to other opposition parties to evolve a joint plan of action for the Monsoon session, the sources said.
The longer duration of the session comes amid the government’s plans to bring in key legislations, including one to facilitate the entry of the private sector in the atomic energy domain.
The government is planning to amend the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act and the Atomic Energy Act to implement the announcement in the Union Budget to open up the nuclear sector for private players. (PTI)
