Opposition to call on Kharge to discuss LS plan of action

New Delhi: The Opposition members will meet the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, in his Parliament office to strategise their move for the second part of the Budget Session that resumes on Monday. In addition, the Lok Sabha Congress MPs will gather at Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi's office to deliberate on the party's strategy.

The second part of the Budget Session of Parliament, which begins on Monday and will continue till April 6, will have 17 sittings. The Budget Session will resume after a month-long recess during which the department-related parliamentary standing committees examined the demands for grants of various ministries and departments.

"We are working on a strategy for the Parliament session. We will raise this issue of alleged misuse of Central agencies against the Opposition leaders in the Parliament," said Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MP K. Keshava Rao. BRS leader K. Kavitha has been facing the Enforcement Directorate's heat in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case.

Several other Opposition leaders too are facing questioning by the ED or the CBI in different cases. Nine leaders of eight political parties in the Opposition recently wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing his government of unleashing Central investigating agencies on them as part of a "political witch hunt." Besides, the Opposition parties are also planning to corner the government on allegations against the Adani Group, the border standoff with China, price rise and unemployment.

The Congress continues to demand a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations related to the Adani Group. Congress MP K. Suresh maintained that his party will continue to raise the Adani-Hindenburg issue as the government is yet to provide a reply on the controversy.

Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore has asserted that the Congress will strongly raise the issue of "misuse" of Central probe agencies.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of making "sinister attempts to kill democracy" by misusing probe agencies against the Opposition leaders, as he slammed the Centre over the ED searches on the premises of former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's family.

The Trinamul Congress is set to raise issues such as LIC and SBI's risk exposure in the wake of the Adani-Hindenburg row, the price rise of essential commodities, unemployment and the "misuse" of Central agencies during the second phase of the session, its Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien had said recently.

He had said LIC's risk exposure and price rise affect the lives of the common people and their savings and should be highlighted.

The TMC will also raise the issue of "political vendetta" against the non-BJP-ruled states in Parliament and also question the Union government on "holding back funds for schemes such as MNREGA", Mr O'Brien said.