Congress in touch with INDIA allies, says BJP won't get 2/3rd majority in LS

The Congress on Thursday said it is in touch with all Opposition parties, including the DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, expressing confidence that the BJP-led government will not be able to secure the two-thirds majority required to pass key constitutional amendments.

Addressing a press conference after a Congress strategy meeting chaired by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the party's top leadership was coordinating with parties that had voted together to defeat the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on 17 April.

"We are in touch with the DMK, we are in touch with the Aam Aadmi Party... We are in touch with the Samajwadi Party," Ramesh said, adding that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were personally engaging with Opposition leaders.

He said these parties remained united in opposing the BJP's ideology and shared concerns over the proposed delimitation exercise, citing the delimitation carried out in Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.

Ramesh dismissed speculation that the government was close to securing the numbers required for constitutional amendments.

"They wanted 400-plus seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but the people gave them only 240. They are now trying to secure a two-thirds majority through other means. There is no scope for achieving it," he said.

He also described any such attempt as an insult to both the public mandate and the Constitution.

Strategy meetings ahead of Parliament

Senior Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, K.C. Venugopal, P. Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor and others, met on Thursday to finalise the party's strategy for the Monsoon session.

The INDIA bloc is scheduled to hold a joint strategy meeting on 20 July, while the government has called an all-party meeting on 19 July.

The Monsoon session of Parliament will run from 20 July to 13 August.

The government is expected to introduce key legislation, including a constitutional amendment related to delimitation and increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats.

The Opposition has indicated it will raise issues including the alleged NEET examination irregularities, allegations related to donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya, rising fuel prices and the proposed India-US trade agreement.