NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Parliament session, Congress parliamentary strategy group will meet on Monday evening to formulate the party’s strategy on key issues such as the New Education Policy (NEP) and the delimitation exercise. Sources said the Congress leadership may set up a committee on the delimitation exercise.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, besides other senior leaders from both houses, would attend the meeting.
The Congress has taken a cautious approach on the Tamil Nadu government’s ongoing tussle with the Centre over alleged imposition of Hindi and the delimitation exercise. With the DMK expected to raise the issue in Parliament, its ally in Tamil Nadu, Congress will have to adopt a clearer position, a leader said.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday wrote to seven chief ministers, including West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh’s Chandrababu Naidu, and other senior leaders in each of these states, to a meet in Chennai on March 22 “to chart a collective course”.
While the Congress leadership is yet to spell out its stand on three language policy and delimitation, leaders pointed out that Congress-ruled Karnataka and Telangana have opposed the move. However, DMK is unlikely to get support from other INDIA bloc counterparts in the northern states.
Another issue the Congress seeks to raise during the Budget session is the alleged duplication of voter IDs, while also opposing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, sources said.
‘Oppose Waqf bill’
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said his party will follow “all democratic routes” to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill when it comes up for passage in Parliament. He said the INDIA opposition bloc is against the “content, intent and extent” of the proposed law. Ramesh said there will be consultation among the INDIA bloc partners to jointly oppose the bill in both Houses.