Congress to raise inflation, unemployment, Maha Kumbh stampede in Budget Session

New Delhi: The Congress party on Friday said it will raise issues such as inflation, unemployment, the Maha Kumbh stampede and the alleged insult to B R Ambedkar in the Parliament’s 8^th Budget Session. It also asserted that the INDIA bloc is united in raising these issues. 

The opposition party made the assertion after a meeting at Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence. Congress general secretaries Jairam Ramesh, K C Venugopal, and Pramod Tiwari, deputy leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, attended the meeting.

"The entire INDIA alliance is united. Tomorrow, we will raise issues like inflation, unemployment, the stampede at Kumbh Mela, and the insult to Dr Ambedkar by the Home Minister," Tiwari said after the meeting.

Parliament's Budget Session, which began on Friday with President Droupadi Murmu's address to both Houses, is likely to be stormy with opposition parties demanding a discussion on the alleged mismanagement of the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj where 30 pilgrims were killed in a stampede.

At the all-party meeting on Thursday, the opposition accused the BJP-led government of politicising the Kumbh congregation and promoting VIP culture at the expense of the common man.

The opposition parties also alleged that the government is steamrolling its agenda in parliamentary panels and disregarding the parliamentary procedure of finalising House business at the meetings of the Business Advisory Committee.

The 16 Bills listed for the Budget Session include the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, The Railways (Amendment) Bill, The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, The Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, The Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, and The Immigration and Foreigners Bill.