After Sibal's dinner, Sonia to host meeting of opposition leaders
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Aug, 2021 11:17 AM
New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS) Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi will host a meeting of like-minded parties next week, with all opposition leaders, who jointly took on to the government in the just-concluded Monsoon session, to be invited, sources said on Thursday.
Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states as well as where the party is in power as part of an alliance, including Tamil Nadu's M.K. Stalin (DMK), Maharashtra's Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM) will also be invited.
Shiv Sena has confirmed that they will participate in the meeting, for which a tentative date of August 20 has been given but it will depend on the availability of the leaders.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjeee, and other leaders of like-minded parties from the opposition will be invited, the sources said.
The meeting assumes significance as it comes after senior Congress leader and one of the party's major dissenting voice, Kapil Sibal, hosted a dinner in which 45 leaders of the 15 parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Akali Dal, participated. It is understood that opposition unity was stressed at the occasion, but some were averse to Gandhis' leadership.
Rahul Gandhi too has been active in the monsoon session with trying to forge unity within the opposition, participating in various meetings, and also hosting breakfast during the session.
The united opposition took out a march from Parliament to Vijay Chowk on Thursday to protest against the curtailment of the Monsoon session, with both houses of Parliament adjourned sine die two days ahead of schedule.
The MPs held banners and placards demanding the withdrawal of farm laws and protesting against the "murder of democracy".
Leading the protest, Rahul Gandhi alleged: "We have to come out here to speak to the press as we in Opposition are not allowed to speak in the Parliament. This is a murder of democracy."
He alleged that the voice of 60 per cent of the country has been crushed, humiliated and on Wednesday in the Rajya Sabha, women MPs were assaulted.
Referring to alleged reports of snooping of prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware, senior BJP leader and union minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday said that these kinds of stories are concocted, fabricated and have no evidence.
On Wednesday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal gave permission to the Jantar Mantar demonstration on the condition that a maximum of 200 protesters will be allowed till August 9 between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Sidhu sent an invite, signed by some 62 legislators, through working presidents, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Sangat Singh Gilzian, to the 'sulking' Chief Minister to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
In a statement here, Badal said it was condemnable that the NDA government had targeted Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar and the Bharat Samachar group because they had posed tough questions to the government in keeping with high standards of journalism.
In a written reply to parliamentarian Binoy Viswam in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State (External Affairs) V.A. Muraleedharan said during the unprecedented crisis, the international community came forward with offers of solidarity and assistance for specific medicines and equipment that were not immediately available in the country.
With the Pegasus snoopgate leading to ruckus in the Parliament, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday that the news story on snooping was an attempt to malign India's democracy and its institutions.
