Govt defends invitation to rebel TMC MPs for all-party meet
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju also said that the people of the country want Parliament to function properly and “there should be no disorder” in the Assembly, and called on all parties to “give positive support to the bills”.
He was speaking after an all-party meeting ahead of the Monsoon session.
20 out of 28 TMC MPs revolted against the party leadership and joined the Nationalist Citizen Party of India (NCPI) following the defeat in the assembly elections in West Bengal.
Rebel TMC MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar attended the all-party meeting, sparking protests from opposition parties who staged a symbolic strike. The opposition later returned to attend the meeting.
“NCPI has sought recognition from the Lok Sabha Speaker; how can you ignore them? It is the duty of the government to invite everyone,” Rijiju told reporters.
Rijiju said the government has listed eight bills for the Monsoon Session and will follow necessary procedures in case of additional work. He said that opposition protests in the past caused disruptions in the Parliament and harmed the interests of the country and the people.
“We cannot provide political benefit to anyone by protesting. Therefore, I asked all political party members to wholeheartedly participate in the process.” he said.
While the minister said that all parties should work together for the nation, the government took the opposition’s suggestions into account.
“In parliamentary democracy, all parties have the right to say; I ask them to give positive support to the draft laws,” he said.
The all-party meeting was chaired by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health Minister JP Nadda, Rijiju and opposition leaders from different political parties.
The monsoon season will begin on Monday and continue until August 13.
