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'Unparliamentary': Opposition cries foul over PM Modi skipping all-party meeting

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "All Party Meeting to discuss forthcoming session of Parliament has just begun, and the Prime Minister, as usual, is absent. Is this not unparliamentary?".

Unparliamentary Opposition cries foul over PM Modi skipping all-party meeting
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New Delhi, First Published Jul 17, 2022, 4:56 PM IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence from the all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament was strongly protested by the Congress party. 

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "All Party Meeting to discuss forthcoming session of Parliament has just begun, and the Prime Minister, as usual, is absent. Is this not unparliamentary?".

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The government convened the all-party meeting of political parties in Parliament House annexe to discuss the issues to be taken up during the Monsoon session of Parliament that will begin on July 18 and go on till August 12.  

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh chaired the meeting, which was also attended by the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi. 

Leaders from almost all parties, including Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh, DMK's TR Baalu and Tiruchi Siva, NCP's Sharad Pawar and TMC's Sudeep Bandyopadhyay were present at the meeting.

Also present were Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, YSRCP's Vijaysai Reddy and Midhun Reddy, BJD's Pinaki Misra, TRS' Keshav Rao and Nama Nageshwar Rao and RJD's AD Singh. The Opposition is expected to raise issues like the Agnipath scheme, economy and unemployment during the monsoon session. The government is also expected to put forward its legislative agenda. 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi lashed out at the Opposition for making issues out of non-issues and trying to belittle the Parliament's image. Addressing media persons before the all-party meeting, Joshi said the government was ready to discuss all issues.

He condemned the opposition parties for creating needless controversy over unparliamentary words and circulars that have been routinely issued in the past. He said such a practice had been carried on since 1954, when the first such list was brought out.

"The opposition is trying to make issues out of non-issues as they do not have anything against the Government," Joshi told reporters after the all-party meet.

On the opposition criticism over the prime minister's absence from the all-party meeting, the minister said, "The prime minister never attended all-party meetings before 2014 when Congress was in power".

He also stated that the government would hold an all-party meeting on the Sri Lanka situation on Tuesday, chaired by Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar.

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(With Agency inputs)

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