The BJP on Sunday accused Congress MP Jairam Ramesh of ‘live-tweeting’ from the day's all-party meeting, held on the eve of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
“There is a certain propriety and protocol one associates with these all party meetings. There is a frank and free exchange of ideas followed by media briefing. But a look at Jairam Ramesh's timeline and it appears he was live tweeting the proceedings,” BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Also Read | 'Bihar special status, NEET, Kanwar order': What was discussed in all-party meeting
“Next time, the Congress should consider sending a more seasoned hand for these proceedings,” Malviya added.
At 11:51 am, Ramesh, a former Union minister who heads the communications department of the Congress, posted on X: ""In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter."
{{/usCountry}}At 11:51 am, Ramesh, a former Union minister who heads the communications department of the Congress, posted on X: ""In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter."
{{/usCountry}}Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP, are critical allies of the BJP, which secured a third consecutive term at the Centre by winning the Lok Sabha elections, held between April and June. However, unlike its first two terms, when it had majority on its own, the BJP is now in power with support of its allies in the NDA, the coalition it leads. The TDP and JD(U) contribute 16 and 12 seats, respectively, to the NDA's tally of 293 seats in Lok Sabha; without them, the alliance will have 265 seats, seven short of the majority mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Also Read | Monsoon Session: Rajnath Singh makes an appeal to Opposition at all-party meet
A Special Category Status for their respective states has been a long-standing demand of the two parties.
Meanwhile, in another post, at 12:40 pm, Ramesh, the Congress MP, took a dig at the BJD, which lost power in Odisha, where the BJP formed its first government, the coastal state's first non-BJD government in over 20 years.
The BJD representative, too, spoke about the Special Category Status, reminding the BJP of the promise made by the saffron party in its manifesto for the 2014 Odisha assembly polls, Ramesh stated.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament, the first full parliamentary session of prime minister Narendra Modi's third term, will end on August 12, if not adjourned earlier.