The Congress on Thursday said it will hold the Narendra Modi government accountable on a host of issues, including the alleged theft of donations from the Ram temple, paper leaks, the "systemic corrosion" of the education system, inflation and foreign policy, during the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning July 20.
The party also announced that it would strongly oppose the proposed Constitution amendment bills on delimitation and the removal of ministers and chief ministers, as well as several other pieces of legislation that are likely to be introduced during the session.
The strategy was finalised at a meeting of senior Congress leaders held at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath. The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Rajya Sabha chief whip Jairam Ramesh, P Chidambaram, K Suresh, Naseer Hussain, Manickam Tagore, Kumari Selja, Tariq Anwar, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and other senior leaders.
In a post on X after the meeting, Kharge outlined the issues the party plans to raise during the session.
"Chanda Chori -- Astha se Dhoka, Paper leaks and the systemic corrosion of education system, institutional capture, breaking of political parties, multiple scams and charges of corruption, backbreaking price rise, foreign policy failures and strategic blunders, the imposition of ethanol blending on 3.5 crore vehicle owners, unbridled deforestation, and the continued assault on the rights of SCs, STs, OBCs and minorities are among the critical issues on which the Congress Party will hold the Modi government accountable during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament."
Kharge added that these issues affecting the lives and aspirations of people were discussed in detail during the strategy meeting.
Addressing a press conference later, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the party had learnt that the Centre was preparing to reintroduce the Constitution amendment bill on delimitation after failing to secure the required two-thirds majority earlier this year.
"We have learnt that the Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) is making efforts to bring back the Delimitation Bill. The government failed to secure a two-thirds majority on 17th April and suffered a significant setback. It now wants to reintroduce the Bill."
Ramesh said the meeting also discussed another proposed Constitution amendment bill that seeks the removal of ministers who remain in custody for 30 days in cases involving serious offences.
"The Congress Party has consistently maintained that it will strongly oppose the Delimitation Bill and will continue to do so. We will also make every effort to maintain the unity and solidarity of all Opposition parties. Similarly, we will firmly oppose the proposed Constitution Amendment Bill related to the removal of ministers."
He said there was also a discussion on the proposed 'One Nation, One Election' legislation, which is currently being examined by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
The Congress will also oppose the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill if it is introduced during the session, Ramesh said.
"We will also oppose the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill in its entirety. It is possible that the Bill may be introduced during this session. There is also a possibility that the FCRA Amendment Bill will be introduced. We will oppose it as well. We had opposed it earlier, following which the government withdrew the Bill. However, we are now hearing that it may be brought back."
According to Ramesh, the meeting also discussed the proposed amendments to the National Food Security Act, 2013, which forms the legal basis for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
"We are completely opposed to these proposed amendments, and if the Bill is introduced during this session, we will strongly oppose it. As far as the legislative agenda is concerned, I do not see any Bill before us that we can support."
He reiterated that the Congress remains firmly opposed to both Constitution amendment bills and said the party would support the implementation of women's reservation if it is carried out on the basis of the existing strength of the Lok Sabha.
"We have demanded several times that women's reservation be implemented on the current strength of the Lok Sabha and if the government is willing to do that we will support it."
Targeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Ramesh alleged that he had "split parties" and was attempting to secure a two-thirds majority through "cunningness", which he said would amount to "an insult to the Constitution" and become "a blot on democracy". He also asserted that the BJP would not be able to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha.
"Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun are in touch with all parties that had supported us on April 16 and 17 in defeating the government's delimitation bill."
The opposition INDIA bloc is scheduled to hold a strategy meeting on Monday to finalise its joint approach for the session, while the Centre has convened an all-party meeting on Sunday to discuss the legislative agenda.
The government is expected to introduce several key bills during the Monsoon Session, including the Constitution amendment bill on delimitation and increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha, as well as another amendment providing for the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and Union ministers upon being jailed.
Apart from opposing the government's legislative agenda, the Opposition is also expected to raise issues such as the alleged NEET paper leak, the alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, rising fuel prices and the proposed India-US trade deal.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament is scheduled to commence on July 20 and continue until August 13.
(With inputs from PTI)