Sonia Gandhi Holds Opposition Meet, No Invite To Mamata Banerjee's Party

A strategy session was held Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's Delhi residence this evening to devise a way forward on scrapping the suspension of 12 MPs of Rajya Sabha, which has led to an impasse in parliament. Besides the Congress, leaders of five opposition parties were at the meeting, sources said, which included Congress allies Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, DMK and the Shiv Sena.  

Sources said Mr Pawar, Sena leader Sanjay Raut, DMK's TR Balu, CPM's Sitaram Yechury, and National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah attended the meeting, where Rahul Gandhi was also present. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which is at loggerheads with the Congress, was not invited, sources said.

The leaders have asked Sharad Pawar to speak with Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Naidu to find a way forward on the issue, sources said.  Mr Naidu earlier underscored the need of smooth functioning of the house and asked the Leader of the House and the Leader of Opposition to discuss the issue.

"The government should not be so harsh with the members. After all, they are elected members of the state council... The government is not in the mood of making any solution. This is not correct and this needs to be dealt with immediately," Mr Balu told NDTV after the meeting.

Asked about the key parties who were not present at the meeting, the Aam Aadmi Party, Mayawati's Bahujan Party or the Samajwadi Party, he said, "Each and every party through the length and breadth of the nation cannot join... there will be difference of opinion. We are like-minded parties".   

The suspension of the MPs over "unruly behavior" has been the big flashpoint between the government and the opposition in the Winter Session of parliament. Demanding revocation of the suspension, the opposition has been holding regular protest meets, leading to repeated adjournments and interruption of work in both houses.

The Centre has refused to relent, contending that the MPs have not apologized for their conduct. Earlier this month, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal told the House, "A courtesy towards the Chair and nation is an apology. They said we cannot apologise".

The opposition claims that the MPs were suspended for the whole of Winter Session over their behavior on the last day of the Monsoon Session, in violation of Rajya Sabha rules.

Congress's Mallikarjun Kharge has already written to Venkaiah Naidu, contending that under Article 83 of the Constitution, "the Council of states is a continuous house unlike the House of People", which is adjourned and prorogued for convenience.

In this case, the monsoon session was prorogued by the President of India on August 31. "If the House was only adjourned without any prorogation, the argument of continuity would merit any justification,"
his letter read.  

The suspended members, the Congress also said, were denied any opportunity to present their case.