Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, presided over a virtual meeting of the Parliamentary strategy group of the Congress on Thursday, ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, in which it was decided that the Opposition would demand restoration of Question Hour.
The Monsoon session, delayed because of COVID 19, will get under way on September 14 and will end on October 1.
The timing of the meeting is significant as it comes just 10 days after an explosive meeting of the Congress Working Committee in which Mr. Azad, one of the 23 signatories, or G23 [Group of 23], who had signed a letter addressed to party chief Sonia Gandhi questioning the party's functioning, had received a lot of flak from colleagues.
It was a closed door meeting. Sources said Mr. Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, will write to Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha Speaker to restore Question Hour.
Also read: Suspension of Question Hour triggers outrage
The parliamentary group was informed that the five-member committee that was set up to examine the key ordinances promulgated by the Narendra Modi government in key sectors such as agriculture and environment has submitted its report to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Another meeting of the group will take place next week. Key issues identified for the Parliament session include the border row with China and the situation in Ladakh, alarming rise in the number of COVID cases every day, plight of the migrant workers during lockdown and contraction in the GDP, job losses and the state of the economy.
The group is also learnt to have discussed the issue of close coordination with like-minded parties during the session to put pressure on the government.
Thursday’s meeting, that included another member of G23, Anand Sharma, was the first after Ms. Gandhi rejigged the parliamentary group last week, a move that was largely seen as a snub to dissenters.
While Ms. Gandhi has elevated Jairam Ramesh as the Chief Whip in the Rajya Sabha and Gaurav Gogoi as the Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, General Secretary (organization) K.C. Venugopal and Lok Sabha member Ravneet Singh Bittu were added as new members to the group.
Anothe signatory to the letter and an earlier member of the Parliamentary group, Manish Tewari, however, didn’t find a place in the reconstituted group.