NEW DELHI: In a total breakdown of ties between the Opposition and the ruling NDA, the INDIA bloc parties including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, and the Samajwadi Party boycotted the customary tea party hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday after the House was adjourned sine die.
However, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Kanimozhi attended the traditional get-together, sources said.
Kanimozhi’s presence at the Speaker’s meeting has consequently fuelled speculation about the DMK’s relationship with Congress and its future position within the INDIA bloc.
Responding to questions at the Parliament complex, Kanimozhi sought to downplay the controversy. She said the DMK was merely maintaining its distance from Congress and asserted that it continued to remain part of the INDIA bloc.
In the Rajya Sabha, opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi, attended the tea party hosted by Chairman C P Radhakrishnan.
According to sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and several other senior leaders and ministers were present at the tea party in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chamber. A senior Congress leader stated that leaders from the Congress, SP, TMC, and various other INDIA bloc parties did not participate in the event.
A tea party is hosted by the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman in their chambers after the proceedings of the two Houses are adjourned sine die.
The session began on July 20 and has been witnessing vociferous protest by the Opposition earlier over the NEET paper leak issue and alleged theft of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Later the opposition demanded a response from Shah over the crackdown on students at Jantar Mantar on July 20.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that there are major achievements regarding this monsoon session: “The first achievement is that the One Nation, One Election bill, which the government intended to introduce during this session, has been deferred until the winter session…
The second major success concerns the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill that seeks the massive centralisation of all universities… The report was deferred until winter…
The third bill was the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill… The report was being finalised, and a clause-by-clause discussion was underway, but it was announced that the report would not be presented in this session.”