The floor leaders of all Opposition parties will meet at Delhi’s Constitution Club on Tuesday morning, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge told ANI on Monday. The leaders, who are scheduled to meet before the day’s proceedings begin in the House, are expected to mull over holding a parallel Parliament session, according to NDTV.
Some of the parties have reportedly called for holding a “mock Parliament” alleging that they are not being heard in the House. Reports also suggest that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will host the breakfast meeting of the Opposition leaders.
Both Houses of Parliament once again saw multiple disruptions on Tuesday as the Opposition reiterated its demand for a discussion on the allegations of surveillance of phones by use of the Pegasus spyware. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned till Tuesday.
Last week, 10 Opposition parties met to plan how they would question the Centre in Parliament. At a joint media briefing after the meeting, Gandhi demanded answers from the Centre on whether the government had bought Pegasus to spy on the country’s citizens.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament has seen several disruptions as the government and the Opposition have reached an impasse over discussion into the surveillance allegations. The Opposition has been demanding a discussion and an independent investigation led by a Supreme Court judge into the matter. The government has, however, refused to hold discussions.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien on Monday criticised the government for passing Bills without proper discussion.
“In the first 10 days, Modi-Shah [prime minister and home minister] rushed through and passed 12 Bills at an average time of under seven minutes per Bill,” he tweeted. “Passing legislation or making papri chaat![an Indian snack].”
On Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill and the Inland Vessels Bill. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed amendments to a clutch of legislations, including the Cinematograph Act, Customs Act and Airport Authority of India Act.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on July 19 and will end on August 13.
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