With barely a day to go for the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha , Opposition parties are yet to even talk to one another on floor coordination, leave alone hold a meeting to discuss their approach to the session.
“There is practically no communication between the parties,” a senior Opposition leader said on condition of anonymity. “Usually, days before the session, the phones start working, but this time around, there has been negligible conversation,” the leader added.
The Opposition has not had a meeting after the election results were out on May 23, leaving most non-NDA parties in disarray as they try to come to terms with the poll debacle. Though a meeting was originally scheduled for May 31, it had to be postponed as a majority of the parties were busy introspecting on the reasons for their losses. Since then, no further meeting has been called for.
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Congress becalmed
The Congress, which usually leads the efforts to convene a meeting of the Opposition parties, has so far not placed any calls. With no clarity yet on the continuance of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is reported to be abroad, the party has been busy trying to set its house in order. While party leaders insist that Mr. Gandhi will continue at the helm, he has not attended any of the recent meetings within the party.
“The meeting will happen in due course, most of the parties are yet to elect their floor leaders so once that is completed we will have a meeting,” said a senior Congress leader, who declined to be identified.
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Floor leaders
While the Congress is yet to formally decide on its floor leaders for the Lok Sabha, the party on Saturday nominated Kodikunnil Suresh from Kerala and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from West Bengal as its representatives from the Lower House to Sunday’s all-party meeting called by the government.
“We have not been told anything on that front yet, neither have they called a meeting of the Lok Sabha members to elect the leader,” said a Congress MP from Kerala, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Hopefully, we will know soon,” the MP added.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK) is the third-largest party in the Lok Sabha. DMK Parliamentary party leader T. R. Baalu told The Hindu that he had not received any call for a meeting so far.
The Trinamool, which had been equally active in setting the Opposition agenda, has been busy firefighting on multiple fronts in West Bengal, where post-poll violence is yet to abate and an ongoing doctors’ agitation has disrupted medical services in the State.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who played an active role in Opposition consultations, also finds himself relatively marginalised with his party now left with just three MPs in the Lok Sabha.