NCPI leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar criticized the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for boycotting the all-party meeting ahead of the monsoon session. Calling it ‘unprecedented and indecent’, he said this is not the way to work in a democracy.
New Delhi [भारत]July 19 (ANI): Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) leader and Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday criticized Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) decision to boycott the all-party meeting held ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament. He termed the act as “unprecedented and indecent”.
Speaking to ANI, Dastidar emphasized that the all-party meeting is an important forum to decide future action and legislative actions. He urged the party leadership to introspect on the internal dissent within its ranks. Dastidar said, “Boycotting or walking out of such a meeting is unprecedented and unbecoming; it is here that we determine our future action.”
He said, “They (TMC) should consider why 20 people are angry with them. However, it was not right to walk out; democracy does not work like this.” He further said that despite political differences, parliamentary processes require collective effort for national progress. “Everyone will work together for the development of the country,” he said.
This all-party meeting was called by the government in the national capital to ensure smooth conduct of the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament starting tomorrow. A meeting with leaders of political parties was held under the chairmanship of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh in the Parliament House Complex, New Delhi on Sunday, in which issues related to the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament 2026 were discussed. Altogether 58 leaders from 40 political parties, including ministers, participated in this meeting.
Opposition’s walkout and government’s response
Speaking on the opposition walkout, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the walkout by opposition leaders should not be seen as a boycott, as it was symbolic. “This should not be seen as a boycott of the entire day’s proceedings, it was symbolic,” he told reporters after the meeting. The meeting turned into chaos soon after it began as opposition leaders walked out over the recent political changes with 20 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) as well as six UBT Sena MPs joining the Shiv Sena.
The development comes ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin on July 20 and end on August 13.
Will Lok Sabha seats increase? Speculation intensifies on new bills
These mergers have fueled speculation that the Center will bring back the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposes to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha to 850 and enact the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, 2023 to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures.
The NDA is likely to inch closer to the two-thirds majority mark of 360 in the 540-member House, in which three seats are currently vacant. (ANI)
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