“INDIA- One cohesive force, energy moving ahead”: Derek O’Brien on opposition strategy in Parliament

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said that the opposition parties which has branded themselves as I.N.D.I.A. are moving forward like “one cohesive force” and “energy”, as far as the opposition’s move in Parliament is concerned. 
“Whether it is notices, whether it is tactics and strategy in order to get the Prime Minister to speak tomorrow, Day 6 (of the Monsoon session), or the No Confidence Motion, it is one cohesive force, energy which is moving ahead,” O’Brien said on Wednesday.
The TMC Rajya Sabha MP while speaking at a joint press conference with TMC MP Saugata Roy said that the opposition parties are having meetings every morning with all I.N.D.I.A. parties to deliberate on their strategies in Parliament and these will continue even after the Monsoon Session ends.
“In terms of the strategy in Parliament…we are having meetings every morning with all I.N.D.I.A.parties, all going smoothly, purposefully. This will carry on beyond Parlaiment, that is 11 August,” he said.
Speaking about having an urgent discussion on the Manipur issue, the TMC MP further said that in the last seven years not even one notice has been accepted from the opposition parties.
“In the Rajya Sabha we are asking for an immediate discussion (on the Manipur issue). This is an Emergency provision under 267. In the last seven years not even one notice has been accepted from the opposition parties,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien informed that the last emergency discussion was held in 2016 on demonetisation.
“The last one was done in 2016 on demonetisation. From November 2016 till now, nothing. Before that there was a special 267 discussion on agriculture, farmer suicides. This (the Manipur issue) is special because what is happening in Manipur is unprecedented,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.
TMC MP Saugata Roy claimed that the Prime Minister was not avaliable in the Parliament in the last five days of the Monsoon Session. “Five days of Parliament, but could not see the Prime Minister,” he said.
Earlier, on Tuesday, PM Modi chaired a BJP Parliamentary Party meeting to firm up the Centre’s counter to the Opposition protest over Manipur. Coming down on the Opposition over the continued logjam in Parliament, PM Modi said it appears from their conduct that they want to remain in the Opposition.
He added that India’s global standing has improved significantly and the Centre will continue working on this front. Meanwhile, the members of a grand Opposition alliance, I.N.D.I.A, too, held a meeting at the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss the floor strategy in Parliament.