Parliament winter session: Congress accuses Centre of 'conspiring to divide Opposition'

The Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and a senior Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday, demanded that the government convene an all-party meeting, claiming that the Centre's invitation to four Opposition parties to discuss the issue of 12 MPs was "a conspiracy to divide the Opposition."

"On the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, the administration has invited a conference of four Opposition parties. This is a plot to divide the opposition. On this topic, all of the opposition parties are united. We have written to the administration requesting that an all-party meeting be convened," Kharge told media.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress party's Lok Sabha leader, said the administration wass responsible for the functioning of Parliament. "It depends upon the government as to how it wants to run Lok Sabha.  Because this is a Rajya Sabha issue, the administration has not called us for a meeting," Chowdhury went on to say that the Opposition will bring up the issue of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni's resignation over the Lakhimpur Kheri issue.

Congress blames Centre of conspiring to divide Opposition

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi blamed the opposition for restricting parliament's ability to function. "To find a solution, we want to talk to the opposition parties whose Rajya Sabha MPs have been suspended. They (the opposition) have decided to boycott the conference. They also skipped the Constitution Day celebrations. They should be aware that the general public is boycotting them as well," ANI quoted Pralhad Joshi as saying.

"We will not attend the government-called conference. We shall demand that the Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Misra resign and that the suspension of 12 Opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha be lifted. We would not allow both Houses of Parliament to function at the same time," stated Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut.

The floor leaders of both Houses of Parliament met on Monday to plan the next steps in the process of lifting the suspension of 12 Opposition MPs and demanding the resignation of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni.

Notably, the Central government summoned a meeting of five political parties whose MPs have been suspended from the Rajya Sabha today in an attempt to break the deadlock in the House between the government and the Opposition. On the first day of the Winter session of Parliament, 12 Rajya Sabha MPs from five political parties, including the Congress, TMC, Shivsena, CPI, and CPI-M, were suspended from the House (M). Following the suspension, all 12 MPs have been staging Dharnas in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament on a daily basis.

(with inputs from ANI)