I.N.D.I.A. leaders to meet on August 7; Parliament gears up for showdown

New Delhi: Leaders of I.N.D.I.A. bloc will meet for dinner on August 7 to discuss electoral malpractices and Vice Presidential elections even as the ruling BJP and Opposition are gearing up for another week of showdown in Parliament with both remaining adamant on their stands on discussing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and other states.

MPs are also likely to take out a protest march to EC on August 8.

Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, will host dinner for the Opposition leaders on Thursday during which they are likely to have their first discussion on Vice Presidential elections. While the Parliamentary floor leaders will set the stage for discussions, party chiefs will take over the negotiations soon on the September 9 Vice Presidential elections.

At the meeting, Rahul is likely to brief the leaders about the evidence gathered by the Congress on electoral malpractices as well as on SIR. Rahul will lead a protest in Bengaluru on August 5 against electoral malpractices. On Saturday, he alleged that the Lok Sabha elections last year was “rigged” and that the Congress believes that electoral manipulation took place in 70-100 seats.

The government has made it clear that it has no intention to hold a debate on SIR in Parliament citing a direction by a previous Speaker, Balram Jakhar, who refused to accept a plea by CPI(M)’s Basudev Acharia to hold a discussion on the functioning of the Election Commission.

On the other hand, the Opposition has warned the government that not allowing a debate could mean a washout of the remaining Monsoon Session, which has 11 more sittings till August 21.

Not just the Bihar-based parties, Trinamool Congress has also raised the pitch for a debate on SIR, as they believe the exercise could impact West Bengal too, which is going to polls next year.

The Opposition sources said they were accommodative after the Operation Sindoor debate but the government has not reciprocated it. “We did not disrupt Lok Sabha on Wednesday (July 30) believing that the government will call a meeting to discuss the debate on SIR. They didn’t,” a senior leader said.

The leader claimed that they even participated in the discussion on extending President’s Rule in Manipur and it witnessed a 30-minute disruption due to a BJP MP and not them. However, the leader said, the government did not call a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee.

In Rajya Sabha, another Opposition leader said, the marshals blocking MPs from entering the Well have given a signal that the government is in a confrontation mode. “If there is no debate on SIR, then the House is unlikely to function,” the leader said.