New Delhi, July 16 (IANS). The Congress on Thursday accused the government of trying to achieve a dubious two-thirds majority in Parliament. Congress expressed its strong belief that it was almost impossible to achieve the required numbers. The party said that even if the government succeeds in getting a two-thirds majority, it will be a shameful majority and an insult to the Constitution of India.
The party held a meeting of the Parliamentary Strategy Group, which was chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party President Sonia Gandhi and attended by senior MPs including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.
Briefing the journalists after the meeting, Congress’ general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh and MP Dr. Nasir Hussain said that the strategy group discussed all the important issues and possible laws coming up during the 19-day monsoon session of Parliament.
Jairam Ramesh said that Congress does not yet have any formal information about the bills to be brought in the session. He said though an all-party meeting is scheduled on July 19, the Congress does not expect any outcome from it as it has always been a ‘useless formality’.
The Congress General Secretary said that the party is hopeful that the Union Home Minister will once again try to bring the Delimitation Bill after its crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17. He reiterated that Congress has always opposed the Delimitation Bill and will continue to do so.
In this context, he said that the party is working hard to ensure the unity of all the opposition parties who had voted against the Bill on April 17 and given a shameful defeat to the government.
Responding to a question, Jairam Ramesh said that top level leaders of Congress including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are in touch with all parties including DMK and Aam Aadmi Party.
Responding to another question, Jairam Ramesh confidently said that the government is still far short of the two-thirds majority mark and is finding it difficult to achieve, especially in the Lok Sabha. He said that the government has broken TMC and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), which is an insult to the Constitution.
Referring to the defectors from TMC joining the Nationalist Citizens Party (NCA), he said that this party was formed just three years ago and was not even recognized, but suddenly it has become the second largest constituent group of the NDA, pushing the Telugu Desam Party to the third position. He remarked that the Home Minister has used this party as a parking lot for defecting MPs. Nevertheless, he said the government still had a long way to go and achieving the two-thirds majority mark was almost impossible.
Responding to a question on reports of National Congress Party-Sharad Pawar supporting the delimitation bill, Jairam Ramesh pointed out that Supriya Sule has already refuted these reports in detail. He said that such stories are being spread by the government to create confusion.
–IANS
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