An all-party meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was held on Sunday ahead of the budget session which begins on Monday. The meeting, organised by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, saw floor leaders of various political parties discuss the issues they plan to address during the session.
The Congress sought the Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker's position for the Opposition besides raising controversial issues like NEET-UG irregularities and question paper leaks. The Kanwar Yatra nameplate controversy was also raised by the opposition party.
Party leader Gaurav Gogoi said the opposition should be allowed to raise issues in Parliament after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sought cooperation from every party for the smooth running of the two Houses.
Rajya Sabha MP and deputy leader of opposition in Upper House Pramod Tiwari said the Congress would highlight the NEET issue. "We want to discuss issues like inflation, unemployment, paper leaks, security issues related to China, removal of statues in Parliament, farmers, labourers, Manipur, rail accidents," he told ANI.
Interestingly, NDA ally JD(U), the ruling parties of Bihar, raised special category status for ther state. While Andhra Pradesh's Opposition YSRCP demanded special category status for Andhra, the ruling TDP stayed mum. JD(U had recently passed a resolution demanding special category status or package for Bihar.
This was confirmed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on X: "In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter," he wrote on X.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav raised the issue of the Uttar Pradesh government's controversial directive to eateries on the Kanwariya route to display the owners' names.
Besides, Congress' Ramesh and K Suresh, Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM, RJD's Abhay Kushwaha, JD(U) Sanjay Jha, AAP's Sanjay Singh, SP leader Ramgopal Yadav and NCP's Praful Patel were present at the customary meet. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Tuesday during the session beginning Monday.