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Opposition walkout, objection to TMC rebels getting invite set stage for Day 1 of Parliament session
The monsoon session is set to test the Opposition’s unity after 20 TMC MPs and six Sena (UBT) lawmakers decided to switch over to the NDA.
The Opposition parties displayed a rare show of unity on Sunday by staging a brief walkout from the all-party meeting ahead of the monsoon session to protest the Centre’s invitation to rebel Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmakers, who are set to join the little-known Nationalist Congress Party of India (NCPI), arguing that the merger is yet to be approved by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The walkout, joined by the Congress, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the DMK, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other Opposition parties, briefly interrupted the customary meeting convened ahead of every Parliament session before leaders returned to discuss the government’s legislative agenda and the Opposition’s demand for debates on a range of national issues.
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The development comes months after fissures emerged among the INDIA bloc constituents after the recently concluded state assembly elections, particularly due to the fallout between the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) following the Congress’s decision to support actor Vijay’s new political party (TVK) in Tamil Nadu.
The protest also assumes significance as it comes a month after both the DMK and the AAP had skipped the major INDIA bloc meeting on June 8 in New Delhi to protest internal alliance issues and state-level realignments.
The monsoon session, scheduled from July 20 till August 13, is set to test the Opposition’s unity after 20 TMC MPs and six Sena (UBT) lawmakers decided to switch over to the NDA.
The Opposition, which successfully stalled the Constitution amendment bill related to delimitation in May, will have to depend heavily on the Samajwadi Party (SP) and its estranged ally, the DMK, to thwart any similar moves from the government.
Opposition's strategy
According to TMC leader Derek O’Brien, after Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju extended an invitation to the two rebel TMC MPs -- Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar -- as NCPI representatives, the Opposition came up with a collective strategy.
“We coordinated with Opposition leaders last evening. DMK and AAP (the two Opposition parties not in the INDIA bloc) also agreed to join us,” he said.
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Rijiju defends invitation
Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, however, defended the decision, saying that the government cannot deprive members of their rights.
“We discuss matters based on the numerical strength of political parties, but we certainly cannot deprive anyone of their rights,” he said.
Rijiju added that the walkout staged by the opposition leaders should not be seen as a boycott. “It should not be viewed as a boycott of the entire day’s proceedings, it was symbolic,” he told reporters after the meeting.
Opposition objects to NCPI invitation
As soon as the meeting began, TMC leader Mahua Moitra initiated the dissent.
“What’s happening? Why did you (the government) call a party that has not been approved, nor recognised. This is not a matter of numbers but an issue of law. This is undemocratic and unconstitutional.”
As TMC leaders Moitra and Saugata Ray stood up, other Opposition leaders followed them out, according to people familiar with the matter.
ALSO READ | 6 UBT MPs’ merger with Shinde Sena gets Lok Sabha Speaker’s approval
In a post on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: “All Opposition parties staged a walkout from the All-Party meeting for a few minutes. This was a mark of protest against the decision of the Modi Government to invite the NCPI, which is a parking place for 20 so-called ‘rebel’ TMC MPs when a final decision is still pending with the Speaker.”
Later, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader John Brittas told the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners --Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) -- in the meeting, “This merger is not only against Opposition, it is also against the allies as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to show that they don’t require you too.”
Rebel MPs hit back
Sudip Bandopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, hit back at the Opposition. “I have attended nearly a hundred all-party meetings. For the first time I see that senior leaders have staged a walkout. I want to state that we are committed to secularism, communal harmony and development of India. We also want opposition space to be protected,” said Bandopadhyay.
An angry Bandopadhyay also suggested that smaller parties should not be given front-row seats in the House, in an apparent jibe at the TMC which has the support of only eight MPs in the Lok Sabha.
Kakoli later told the media, “Staging a walkout amounts to showing disrespect to the meeting.”
TMC, Sena (UBT) respond
TMC leader Saugata Ray retorted that the government has called an unrecognised party which is an incorrect step.
“Today, the entire opposition including Congress, the Samajwadi Party, DMK, JMM, AAP, National Conference, Left parties, Shiv Sena (UBT) have all walked out of the all party meeting in protest because the so-called NCPI, which is an unrecognised party, the strength of the All India Trinamool Congress in the list provided by the table office is shown to be 28 members. These so-called rebel 20 MPs, their merger has not been approved by the Speaker,” Moitra said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant also criticised Lok Sabha Speaker’s decision to recognise the merger of six party MPs with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, calling the move constitutionally “unlawful”.
Meanwhile, according to people familiar with the matter, rebel TMC leader Sudip Bandopadhyay will retain his front-row seat, according to people familiar with the matter.
