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A day after the fourth meeting of the Opposition's INDIA bloc concluded in the national capital, the General Body Meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party is scheduled to be held here on Wednesday.
The meeting will start at 9.30 AM, in the Central Hall of Sanvidhan Sadan, Parliament House. The meeting of the INDIA bloc took place amid escalating political tensions between the Opposition and the BJP-led central government, triggered by the demand for Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on the recent Parliament security breach. Meanwhile, the opposition alliance has not reached a consensus on the bloc's prime ministerial candidate. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that any decision on the prime ministerial candidate would be made after the elections. VCK parliamentarian Thol. Thirumavalavan told ANI after a meeting of INDIA bloc parties on Tuesday that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal proposed that Kharge should be the coordinator of the INDIA bloc and that he should be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha battle. Kharge responded to the issue during an interaction with the media after the INDIA block meeting. "First, all of us have to win, we should think about what needs to be done for victory. Who will be PM, this will be decided later. If there are less MPs, what is the point of talking about PM. First, to increase our numbers, (by) coming together, we will try to bring majority. First we will try to win," he said. Kharge also said that a resolution has been passed that the suspension of MPs is undemocratic. "We have passed a resolution that suspension is undemocratic. We will all have to fight to save democracy and all of us are ready to do that. We raised the issue of security breach in the Parliament. We have been saying for a long time that Union HM Amit Shah or PM Modi should come to the Parliament and speak in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha about the issue of Parliament security breach, but they are refusing to do so," Kharge said. The Congress President also appointed 9 AICC Secretaries to coordinate the mobilisation and other arrangements for the "Hai Taiyaar Hum" national-level rally, to be organized in Nagpur on December 28, 2023. The AICC members include P.C. Vishnunadh, MLA, Qazi Nizamuddin, Sanjay Kapoor, Dheeraj Gurjar, Chandan Yadav, B.M. Sandeep, Chetan Chauhan, Pradeep Narwal and Abhishek Dutt. The meeting also concluded with the passing of the resolution on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the suspension of MPs from Parliament. "INDIA parties reiterate that there are many doubts about the integrity of the functioning of the EVMs. These have been raised by many experts and professionals as well. There is widespread demand for a return to the ballot paper system," the resolution states. It suggested that "Instead of the VVPAT slip falling in the box, it should be handed over to the voter who shall then place it in a separate ballot box after having verified his or her choice. 100 per cent counting of VVPAT slips should then be done. It further said that this will restore the full confidence of the people in free and fair elections. The 28 parties participated in our fourth meeting and kept their thoughts before the committee of the alliance. As the 2024 Lok Sabha elections loom just four months away, the allocation of seats becomes pivotal for the Congress, especially after recent electoral setbacks. (ANI)
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