With the BJP failing to secure simple majority mark on its own in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress has hinted at a stormy parliament session, scheduled to begin on June 24.
The grand old party warned the BJP-led NDA government, saying parliament will not run “dictatorially as was done earlier”.
Addressing a press conference, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate on Tuesday said a rise in the temperature of the House is expected because a resurgent Opposition will take on the BJP and its allies during the upcoming session.
She said that several big leaders of the INDIA bloc, who are good speakers, have been elected to the Lok Sabha and they would take on the government on various issues of peoples’ interest.
Asked if the INDIA bloc would be demanding the deputy speaker’s post, she said the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders would take a decision on the issue.
“…but I can tell you one thing, fasten your seat belts because the temperature of the House is going to rise tremendously. Now the House will not be run dictatorially as was done earlier,” Shrinate said.
“It does not matter who becomes the Speaker and who becomes the Deputy Speaker. In Rahul Gandhi’s 14-minute speech, you will not see the Speaker for 11 minutes now. I can tell you this, and this is the power of democracy,” she said.
The Congress won 99 Lok Sabha seats while the Opposition’s INDIA bloc has 234 Lok Sabha seats in total.
The BJP, which emerged as the single-largest party with 240 seats, fell 32 short of a simple majority in the Lok Sabha.
It’s now dependent on JD(U), TDP and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena to run the government.
Talking about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s candidature from Wayanad, she said sharp speakers will become members of the Lok Sabha.
