Opposition parties to meet at Kharge's office in Parliament today

Leaders of various Opposition parties are scheduled to meet on Monday at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's office to chalk out their strategy ahead of the second phase of the Budget session.

New Delhi: Opposition leaders will hold a meeting on Monday morning to firm up their floor strategy for the second leg of the Budget session as they gear up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies and the Adani row. The opposition leaders are expected to meet at Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge's office in the Parliament complex at around 10 am, sources said.

The Congress MPs will gather at the Congress Parliamentary Party office before the meeting to deliberate on the party's strategy, they said. The Congress is also set for a duel with the BJP over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the UK over which the saffron party's leaders have been continuously attacking the former AICC chief.

Opposition parties are gearing up to corner the government on issues such as alleged misuse of probe agencies to target their leaders, allegations against the Adani Group, border standoff with China, price rise and unemployment. The Congress continues to demand a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the allegations related to the Adani Group. Congress MP K Suresh maintained that his party will continue to raise the Adani-Hindenburg issue as the government is yet to give a reply on the controversy.

The focus, however, is on the alleged misuse of probe agencies with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family facing the heat from central agencies in the alleged land-for-jobs scam. Parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Left parties and the DMK have also lodged strong protests against the alleged attack on the federal structure and the misuse of institutions.

Congress whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore has asserted that the Congress will strongly raise the issue of "misuse" of agencies. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accused the Narendra Modi government of making "sinister attempts to kill democracy" by misusing probe agencies against opposition leaders, as he slammed the Centre over the ED searches on the premises of Prasad's family.

The Budget session of Parliament, which began on January 31, is likely to conclude on April 6. Parliament is meeting after a month-long recess, which allows various parliamentary panels to scrutinise allocations made in the Union Budget for different ministries.

The Trinamool Congress is set to raise in Parliament issues such as LIC and SBI's risk exposure, price rise of essential commodities, unemployment and "misuse" of central agencies during the second phase of the session, its Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O'Brien had said recently. He had said LIC's risk exposure and price rise affect the lives and savings of the common people and should be highlighted.

The TMC will also raise the issue of "political vendetta" against non-BJP-ruled states in Parliament and also question the Union government on "holding back funds for schemes such as MGNREGA", O'Brien said. The issue of LIC and SBI's exposure to the Adani Group was raised by various opposition parties in the first leg of Parliament's Budget session which saw multiple disruptions. (PTI)