NEW DELHI: The Congress will reach out to other Opposition parties to raise issues related to inflation, farmers' demand of MSP guarantee, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and demand for compensation for COVID-19 victims during the winter session of Parliament which is scheduled to start on November 29.
At a meeting of the Parliament Strategy Group chaired by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at her residence on Thursday, it was agreed that the Opposition should corner the Centre together on these issues and the party will reach out to the floor leaders of the Opposition in both houses of Parliament.
It will be interesting to see the Congress reach out to the Opposition, notably TMC, when the grand old party has accused the Bengal-based outfit of poaching its leaders. The meeting was attended senior Congress leaders AK Antony, Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, KC Venugopal, Anand Sharma, K Suresh, Ravneet Bittu and Jairam Ramesh among others.
After the meeting, Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said the Congress will raise inflation, farmers' issues, and resignation of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra because his son is the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident.
"We will call up leaders of various parties as part of our efforts to bring the Opposition parties together on these issues in the Parliament," he said. Sharma said as a principal Opposition party, efforts will be made by Congress to ensure that Opposition parties speak together on these matters.
"There are important issues, including the farmers' demands, the MSP, resignation of the minister whose son was involved in the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri and price rise. All these issues will be raised," he said.
It has been learnt that Congress will press for a demand of Rs 4 lakh in compensation for the family of each COVID-19 victim. Rising price of fuel and other items will also be highlighted.