NEW DELHI: After Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party kept away from the Congress-led opposition bloc’s protests in Parliament since the Winter Session opened on November 25, Congress floor leaders reached out to TMC and others, on Wednesday, it is learnt. “Congress has started reaching out,” a senior floor leader from the Opposition benches, told TOI on Wednesday.
With TMC Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandopadhyay having communicated to Congress MP and leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, on the lack of coordination from the Congress’ end, about joint floor strategy or on protest gatherings outside of the House, when Gandhi spoke with Bandopadhyay in the Lok Sabha chamber on Tuesday, the TMC leader got a call from Congress’ deputy leader in LS Gaurav Gogoi, on Wednesday morning, it is learnt, to work out joint moves against the treasury benches.
Meanwhile, more parties of the INDIA bloc, including DMK and the Left parties remained seated while Congress staged a brief walkout in Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday morning, protesting on the farmers’ issue. According to sources, most parties in the INDIA bloc and even many Congress members were keen to raise their own issues in Parliament, flowing the line that TMC and SP have been taking since the opening day of the House. TMC has been saying it wants to raise issues concerning Bengal and people’s issues that concern the country like price rise, situation in Manipur, Bangladesh etc, just as SP was focussed on the situation in Sambhal where the situation has been volatile.
AAP, SP, JMM, TMC, etc, have been trying to raise issues, while more than a week was washed out over the Adani issue that Congress insisted on raising and ended up with the adjournment of both Houses by the respective chairs. “We are not against raising the Adani issue, as it is being made out to be, let the Congress floor leaders bring it up in the BAC (business advisory committee) and decide on how to take it up and we will participate in the issue… as part of the debates on Constitution everything will come up,” said a senior TMC leader.
When asked whether the Opposition INDIA bloc stands divided, with TMC and others taking their own line, TMC leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien told journalists, “The opposition is united, not divided on the floor of Parliament. But tactics to execute this strategy may be different.”
While TMC, SP and some parties have not attended morning strategy meetings at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber during the session, there have been informal communications across parties including with Congress, sources said.
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