‘Next opposition meeting before Parliament Monsoon Session, Maharashtra crisis won’t affect…’: Congress

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on 3 July said that the date for the next opposition meeting will be declared soon. Giving more details on it, he added that the meeting will certainly take place before Monsoon Session of the Parliament begins.

The monsoon session of Parliament will commence from 20 July this year and will continue till 20 August.

While speaking to news agency ANI, Venugopal said, “We will declare the date very soon. We are talking to all political parties and the date will be announced without any delay. The meeting will certainly take place before Monsoon Session begins.”

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He also spoke about Ajit Pawar joining the Maharashtra government and said that him joining the Sena-BJP led government is not going to affect opposition unity as this is NCP's issue.

He added, “PM Modi made a big allegation recently against the NCP leaders for corruption and now we saw this drama. It is a clear sponsored game of ED and their agencies. It will not affect MVA. We will fight against BJP more aggressively.”

Also Read: Maharashtra Politics: A look at Ajit Pawar's many revolts against Sharad Pawar-led NCP

"This is not going to affect opposition unity, this is NCP's issue. Sharad Pawar is the tallest leader of the party and he will be able to handle the situation. Some leaders changing the party does not mean that the supporters of the party and other members will go with them," he told ANI.

Earlier it was reported that the second opposition was scheduled to held on 13-14 July in Bengaluru. JD(U) leader KC Tyagi told Times of India that the dates for the meet have been postponed. He told the daily that the next opposition party meet will be held after the monsoon session of the parliament. This came a day after Ajit Pawar turned rebel and joined the Shinde-BJP led Maharashtra government.

Some sources also told TOI that the proposed meeting was postponed due to upcoming monsoon session of Parliament of Bihar from 10-14 July and Karnataka from 3-14 July.

Speaking on the political crisis in Maharashtra, KC Tyagi slammed the BJP for the crossover of Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction in Maharashtra and said that the move will have no impact on opposition unity nationally.

Dubbing the episode as “cowardly and shameful”, JD(U) chief spokesperson and special advisor K C Tyagi maintained the development in Maharashtra smacked of “fear” instilled by the party's supreme leader, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, into the BJP by uniting the opposition.

Meanwhile, the monsoon session of Parliament also comes at a time when PM Modi made a strong pitch for a Uniform Civil Code and amid moves to step up consultations on the issue. The session is expected to commence in the old Parliament Building and later move to the new building, sources said. The new building was inaugurated by Modi on May 28.

During the session, the central government is likely to bring a bill to replace the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance.

The Ordinance effectively nullified the Supreme Court judgment that gave the Delhi government greater legislative and administrative control over "services" matter.

The National Research Foundation Bill, cleared by the Union Cabinet, is also likely to be introduced. The proposed foundation will be a new funding agency to bolster the country's research competence in areas of science and technology.

(With inputs from agencies)