New Delhi: Ahead of the Union Budget, Congress has called a meeting of its Parliamentary Strategy Group on Friday to decide the broad plans for the upcoming Budget Session, issues to be raised by the principal Opposition party and the nature of floor coordination with other Opposition parties and allies.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will hold discussions with senior party leaders at a virtual meeting of the Parliamentary Strategy Group. The group is headed by Gandhi, who is also the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP).
Other members of the group include former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Choudhary, senior party leaders AK Antony, KC Venugopal, Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, K Suresh, Jairam Ramesh, Manickam Tagore and Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Given that most of the political parties are busy in assembly elections in five states, the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament is seen as an opportunity for major political stakeholders like BJP, Congress, AAP, Akali Dal and Trinamool Congress to put forward their political agendas. The Congress would discuss the strategies with an eye on assembly polls in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
The Congress would discuss effective floor coordination with like-minded parties and raise important issues such as price rise, the economic situation.
The Budget Session of Parliament starts on January 31 with the president's address to the joint sitting of both houses. The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.