Opposition MPs are likely to hold a parallel session of the Parliament outside the House to protest the government's obstinacy on the Pegasus snooping row, according to a Times of India report.
A proposal regarding this was brought up during a meeting of Opposition parties a few weeks ago where they decided that they should host a "Parallel Parliament" since they were being denied the opportunity to raise the Pegasus matter in either House, in which the phones of journalists, activists and political leaders were allegedly tapped.
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) MP NK Premachandran told the publication that there was a view among the Opposition parties to "jointly host a parallel Parliament session outside" since the government continues to maintain its stand that Pegasus is a "non-issue".
Quoting sources, the story added that Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge told Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Leader of the Upper House, Piyush Goyal, that the Opposition would not cede their demand for a discussion on the alleged use of the Israeli spyware and that the government should jointly address 14 opposition leaders on this issue.
The CPI(M) on Sunday said that the government's refusal to discuss the matter was "disrupting Parliament." The Rajya Sabha alone lost 40 hours due to disruptions in the first two weeks of the Monsoon Session, reportedly costing Rs 1.11 lakh to Rs 1.39 lakh a minute. Another report stated that the deadlock in Parliament has cost Rs 130 crore's worth of taxpayers' money.
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