Congress calls meet of opposition leaders on first day of Parliament's winter session

Leader of Opposition in the RS Mallikarjun Kharge said the meeting will help work unitedly in raising critical matters of people's concerns in Parliament.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (Screengrab)
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge (Screengrab)

NEW DELHI: Leaders of various opposition parties will meet here in the morning of November 29 to ensure unity and synergy among themselves during the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

The winter session of Parliament starts on November 29 and will continue till December 23.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the floor leaders of various political parties in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Friday, urging them to participate in the meeting of opposition leaders for discussing the issues to be taken up during the upcoming Parliament session.

"The winter session commencing from November 29, 2021 is very crucial for all of us for raising important issues. I am convening a meeting of floor leaders of all opposition parties both in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on Monday, November 29, 2021, at 9.45 am in my room in Parliament House," Kharge wrote to the leaders of the parties.

He said the meeting will help work unitedly in raising critical matters of people's concerns in Parliament.

Kharge also thanked them for their support and cooperation during the monsoon session, which facilitated opposition unity in raising topical issues.

Kharge told reporters that the Congress has drawn up a list of issues to be raised during the upcoming session of Parliament, including price rise and inflation.

He said it is important for opposition parties with different ideologies to fight against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) together.

"Various opposition parties will try and come together to fight and defeat the BJP in Parliament," he said.

Kharge said the Congress will fight on the issue of farm laws and all parties are together on many issues to take on the government.

Deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma said the Congress is the central pillar of opposition in the country.

"We have a constitutional duty, which we recognise, we are conscious of that as the main opposition party of this country.

There are expectations of people that we will take up issues, which concern our citizens.

"We will raise issues and oppose the government, where we feel it is necessary to do so. It has always been and remained our sincere endeavour to reach out to other parties in the opposition, our own allies and others, who hold similar views on some of the wrong decisions of the BJP government, its policies and its functioning, and that is what happens in a democracy and we hope that we will see this session in the same spirit," Sharma told reporters when asked about opposition unity.

The monsoon session of Parliament was washed out due to opposition unity over the Pegasus spyware snooping controversy.

Both the Congress and the BJP have issued whips to its MPs in the Rajya Sabha to ensure their presence on the first day of the winter session of Parliament, when the bill for a repeal of three farm laws would be brought by the government.

The Congress has issued a whip to its Lok Sabha MPs too for ensuring their presence in the House on November 29, the first day of the session.

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