Political parties gathered in New Delhi on Sunday, July 19, for the traditional all-party meeting the government holds just before a new session of Parliament opens, with the ruling side expected to lay out its legislative agenda for the upcoming Monsoon Session while opposition parties signalled they would use the floor to press a long list of grievances.
Opposition's charge sheet for the session
Leaders of opposition parties said ahead of the meeting that they intend to raise several contentious issues once Parliament convenes, including the alleged donation scam involving the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust, the leak of papers for various examinations, the ongoing debate around delimitation, and questions surrounding the functioning of the Lok Sabha Speaker's office. An all-party meeting of this kind is usually followed by discussions in the Business Advisory Committee, where floor leaders of different parties and the government try to settle how many days the session will run and which issues will get time on the floor.
Congress targets BJP over Ram Mandir Trust donations
Speaking to reporters about the issues the Congress plans to push during the session, Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and its government of betraying Lord Ram, saying the party had not merely diverted donations meant for the temple but had committed what he called a "dacoity against the people's faith." Tiwari said this would be the very first issue Congress raises once the session opens, framing it as a matter of trust rather than just a financial dispute.
Tiwari went on to connect the donation row to other complaints his party plans to air in the House. He alleged that question papers for more than 70 examinations, including the NEET exam, have been leaked, and described the pattern as a crisis that is being manufactured deliberately rather than occurring by accident. He also alleged that ethanol being blended into petrol is damaging vehicle engines, calling it a scheme engineered to let a select few profit at the cost of ordinary consumers, and said Congress would separately raise allegations of land scams during the session as well.
On the government's numerical strength in Parliament, Tiwari said, "BJP or the NDA government never had, does not have, and will not have a two-third majority," a remark aimed at pushing back against any suggestion that the ruling alliance can push through legislation without accommodating the opposition's concerns.
TMC rebel attends meeting under a new banner
Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who has broken ranks with his party, attended Sunday's meeting in his capacity as leader of the Nationalist Citizen Party of India (NCPI) rather than as a Trinamool Congress representative. He said he had led the Trinamool Congress's parliamentary party for the last 15 years but would now represent his new party, adding that its stance remained the same, that the House belongs to the opposition and that this principle should be reflected in how Parliament is allowed to function. Bandyopadhyay said he and his new outfit remained firm believers in secularism, communal harmony and the unity of the country, and that he intended to carry this position into the all-party meeting and beyond.
Asked about Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's public challenge to rebel legislators, in which Banerjee said he would resign from his post if the rebels returned to the party, Bandyopadhyay said, "He has appealed individually. MPs or MLAs will take their own decision," suggesting he was in no hurry to respond to the ultimatum himself.
Rajnath Singh leads the government's outreach
The all-party meeting was addressed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who typically leads the government's outreach to floor leaders of various parties ahead of every parliamentary session in an effort to build a working consensus on the legislative business the government wants to take up. With opposition parties already listing out the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust donation issue, exam paper leaks, delimitation and the Speaker's role as flashpoints, the coming Monsoon Session appears headed for a contentious start even before the first bill is formally introduced.
