Congress wants Opposition to jointly contest Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman poll : The Tribune India

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Congress wants Opposition to jointly contest Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman poll

Sonia Gandhi. File photo

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 8

The Congress on Tuesday decided to contest the upcoming election to the post of Rajya Sabha (RS) Deputy Chairman with party chief Sonia Gandhi authorising engagement with the larger Opposition on the issue. The Congress parliamentary strategy group met and called for exploring possibilities of fielding a joint Opposition candidate besides considering offering the nomination to the DMK.

The meeting was attended by three leaders (Leader of Opposition in RS Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari) who recently signed a controversial letter seeking leadership changes in the Congress. This was the first time since the CWC meeting where they were cornered that these leaders shared space with Sonia, who asked Azad to talk to the Opposition on RS deputy chairman’s election.

To corner govt on LAC standoff

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has advocated an aggressive pitch in Parliament on the ongoing LAC standoff with China after Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma called for a calibrated stand. Sources said Tewari and Sharma raised the need to articulate the party position in a way that doesn’t undermine the morale of the armed forces. According to sources, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Bittu said the Congress, which had sacrificed two PMs, need not worry about its nationalist credentials.

Sources said the Congress, although conscious of lack of numbers in the Upper House, will contest the elections as a matter of principle. Even in 2018, then Congress MP BK Hariprasad had filed the nomination for Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s election against the ruling NDA nominee, Harivansh.

The post fell vacant recently after the term of Harivansh expired. He has now been re-elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Nominations for the election would be received until September 11.

At the meeting, the Congress also decided to oppose four of the 11 ordinances the government will bring in the Monsoon Session, starting September 14.

These include Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance-2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance-2020.

On the first day of the session, the Congress plans to protest the curtailment of the Question Hour.