The Congress parliamentary strategy group will meet on Monday to strategise on the party’s response to the government’s offerings for the next fiscal year, set to be announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget to be presented on February 1.
Party president Sonia Gandhi, former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, former president Rahul Gandhi, party members Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel, party;s Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Kodikunnil Suresh, organisational general secretary KC Venugopal, and MPs Gaurav Gogoi, and Manickam Tagore are expected to be present at the meeting, to be held at Gandhi’s residence in the evening.
A party leader, a part of the strategy group, said a strategy for the upcoming session is on the agenda for the upcoming meeting.
“We need to strategise on our responses to the government’s proposed legislations. Among the prominent bills pending is the Data Protection Bill, which is currently with the Joint Parliamentary Committee, the DNA Bill, and the Code on Social Security Bill,” he added.
In addition, the prevailing situation in the country is also likely to come up for discussion. “The anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, which has now reached all corners of the country, as well as student protests, are some of the issues we hope to raise,” he said.
A coordinated Parliament strategy of Opposition parties, too, has been planned, with several parties meeting on January 30, ahead of the Budget on February 1.
