Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge with the floor leaders of I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties during a meeting at his office in Parliament House, on the first day of the Winter session, in New Delhi, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
PTI
New Delhi: I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties on Monday decided to strongly raise the Adani issue in Parliament during the Winter Session and insist on a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee, as they feel the indictment of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has strengthened their case.
Interestingly, Trinamool Congress leaders skipped the meeting after making remarks about the Congress’ latest electoral debacle in Maharashtra. Some leaders also demanded that their party chief Mamata Banerjee should be given the mantle of I.N.D.I.A. bloc.
Separately, Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group also met where party's senior leaders decided not to let the steam off the issue. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his unhappiness over MPs being disallowed to raise the Adani issue in Parliament.
At the meeting of I.N.D.I.A. floor leaders in Parliament chaired by Kharge in the morning, the Opposition functionaries deliberated on the strategy to be adopted during the session. Leaders identified Adani issue and Manipur violence among the major issues besides deciding to take up issues as and when it evolves.
The leaders also decided to insist on a JPC probe on Adani issue, which they have been demanding for some time.
Besides Congress, floor leaders of Samajwadi Party, DMK, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)L, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), Muslim League, AAP, RSP, Kerala Congress, RJD, MDMK and BAP.
After the Congress Strategy Group meeting, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said they would not compromise and would insist on a JPC as the need for such a probe into Adani issue has been reinforced by the indictment of Adani by the US.
"We will continue to demand JPC. We will continue a demand for a discussion on Manipur and Nagaland. Now there is an engineered communal violence in UP. That's also become a very important issue for all opposition parties. Many opposition parties want a discussion on free and fair elections, so there are a number of issues that we have discussed," he said after the meeting.
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal alleged that the government is "very much scared" of discussing the Adani issue. "They are not even ready to hear one word from the opposition on the issue," he said.