Opposition parties to meet at Kharge’s office in Parliament ahead of 2nd phase of Budget session

PTI, Mar 12, 2023, 5:10 PM IST

Opposition leaders will hold a meeting Monday morning to firm up their floor strategy for the second leg of the Budget session as they gear up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies and the Adani row.

The opposition leaders are expected to meet at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s office in the Parliament complex around 10 am, sources said. The Congress MPs will gather at the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson’s office shortly thereafter to deliberate on the party’s strategy, they said.

The opposition parties are gearing up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies to target their leaders, allegations against the Adani Group, border standoff with China, price rise and unemployment.

The Congress continues to demand a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations related to the Adani Group. Congress MP K Suresh maintained that his party will continue to raise the Adani-Hindenburg issue as the government is yet to provide a reply on the controversy.

The focus, however, is on the alleged misuse of probe agencies with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family facing heat from central agencies in the alleged land-for-jobs scam.

Parties such as the Samajwadi Party, the Left parties and the DMK have also lodged their strong protests against the alleged attack on the federal structure and the misuse of institutions.

Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore has asserted that the Congress would strongly raise the issue of ”misuse” of agencies.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of making ”sinister attempts to kill democracy” by misusing probe agencies against opposition leaders, as he slammed the Centre over the ED searches on the premises of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad’s family.

The Budget session of Parliament, which began on January 31, is likely to conclude on April 6. Parliament is meeting after a month-long recess which allows various parliamentary panels to scrutinise allocations made in the Union Budget for different ministries.

The Trinamool Congress is set to raise in Parliament issues such as LIC and SBI’s risk exposure, price rise of essential commodities, unemployment and ”misuse” of central agencies during the second phase of the session, its Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’Brien had said recently.

He had said LIC’s risk exposure and price rise affect the lives of the common people and their savings and should be highlighted.

The TMC will also raise the issue of ”political vendetta” against non-BJP-ruled states in Parliament and also question the Union government on ”holding back of funds for schemes such as MNREGA”, O’Brien said.

LIC and SBI’s exposure to the Adani Group were raised by various opposition parties in the first leg of Parliament’s Budget session which saw multiple disruptions.