COVID-19: leaders of 20 opposition parties to meet on May 22 and discuss Modi govt handling of the crisis 

Days after the Union government announced economic package to stimulate economy which has come to a standstill due to the coronavirus lockdown, the main opposition parties have reportedly decided to discuss the measures taken by the Centre to deal with this crisis.

Although the Congress initially supported the Modi government in the country’s fight against the spread of the deadly virus, the grand old party has severely criticised the way the government has tackled the issues of migrant workers. Most of the opposition parties are not very happy with the stimulus package either.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi even urged the prime minister to reconsider the package and transfer money directly to the most deprived and vulnerable.

According to sources, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have been urging for a joint opposition meeting since the beginning of the lockdown but the meeting somehow couldn’t take place.

Now Congress President Sonia Gandhi has once again taken an initiative and called for a meeting via video conferencing on May 22. The prominent issues which will be focused on during the meet will be the coronavirus crisis, the economic crisis and particularly the crisis of migrant workers desperate to return to their native villages amid lockdown. The Congress President will chair the meeting, ANI reported.

According to sources, leaders of about 20 parties will join in the discussion. These include the Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, JMM leader and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren among others