Sonia to discuss party’s strategy with MPs ahead of all-party meet

New Delhi, August 1

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is expected to lay out the party’s strategy in Parliament on Monday, ahead of an all-party meet called by the BJP-led government to break the logjam that has hit legislative work during what has been a rocky monsoon session.

Gandhi will address a meeting of the general body of the Congress Parliamentary Party on Monday morning before the start of the third week of the current session, which has so far been a stalled affair due to Opposition parties’ protests over the Lalit Modi controversy and the Vyapam scam.

This will be the first meeting of the CPP general body in the monsoon session, which has seen an aggressive Congress seeking from day one the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The Congress has already said that its participation in an all-party meeting to break the two-week-long deadlock in Parliament depends on a “tangible” proposal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Opposition’s demands.

“We are not interested in a mere photo-op, tea and sandwiches. The PM must first tell us what action is being taken on our demands,” senior Congress spokesman Anand Sharma had said yesterday.

The government will call an all-party meeting on Monday in a bid to break the Parliament logjam. It has accused Congress of “hurting” the country by blocking the passage of key reform bills like GST with its relentless protests. — PTI