NEW DELHI, July 19: The INDIA bloc staged a walkout from the all-party meeting convened by the Centre on Sunday ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which is scheduled to commence today, protesting the presence of members of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), a rebel faction of the Trinamool Congress.
The meeting, held in the Main Committee Room of the Parliament House Annexe, was attended by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and other MPs of the ruling NDA.
Several Opposition leaders also participated in the meeting, including Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, RLD MP Rajkumar Sangwan, Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, TMC rebel MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, JMM MP Mahua Maji and others. Opposition leaders objected to the invitation extended to the rebel Trinamool faction despite the pending disqualification proceedings against its MPs.
NCPI slams Opposition over walkout
The Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) on Sunday criticised Opposition parties for walking out of the all-party meeting convened by the Centre, calling the protest unprecedented and inappropriate.
The Opposition MPs, however, returned shortly afterwards and participated in the meeting. (IANS)
