Opposition walks out of all-party meeting over NCPI’s participation ahead of Monsoon Session

Opposition parties briefly walked out of the customary all-party meeting held ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on Sunday, protesting the participation of the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), which recently absorbed a group of rebel Trinamool Congress MPs.

The Opposition called the move as a symbolic protest, questioning the Centre’s decision to invite the NCPI despite the merger of the rebel MPs not yet receiving formal approval.

Around 20 rebel MPs from the Trinamool Congress had merged with the NCPI in June, significantly increasing the strength of the little-known party. However, the Opposition leaders argued that the NCPI should not have been invited to the meeting as the merger is still pending approval. They also pointed out that the Parliament website continues to list the rebel lawmakers as Trinamool Congress MPs.

Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy said the Opposition’s objection was that an unrecognised party, whose name does not appear on the Parliament website, had been invited to the all-party meeting.

Congress leaders termed the walkout a symbolic boycott against the government’s decision to invite the NCPI.

The party’s media department said all Opposition parties participated in the brief protest because the final decision on the merger of the rebel Trinamool MPs with the NCPI is still pending before the Speaker.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader of the Opposition Pramod Tiwari said the Opposition also raised several issues expected to be discussed during the Monsoon Session.

According to him, these include the alleged Ram temple donation scam, the NEET paper leak, agriculture-related issues, E20 fuel blending and delimitation.

NCPI Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar thanked the Parliamentary Affairs Minister for inviting the party to the all-party meeting chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Responding to questions about the pending merger, she said the process takes time and that all required documents would be submitted to the Speaker. She also described the government’s decision to allot separate seating to the NCPI bloc in Parliament as a positive development.