Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group meet today, Centre's ordinance likely to be key focus

Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group has scheduled a meeting on Saturday (July 15) at approximately 10 am. The purpose of this gathering is to outline a plan for the upcoming session of the House. This meeting is also significant as it precedes the opposition's crucial mega-meeting on July 17 in Bengaluru.

One key agenda expected to be discussed is the Centre's ordinance regarding the control of services in Delhi, which is anticipated to be presented in Parliament. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been actively seeking support from Opposition parties to oppose the "controversial" ordinance and secure its rejection in the Rajya Sabha.

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CM Kejriwal has already held meetings with leaders from various opposition parties, including TMC, SP, CPI, JMM, and Shiv Sena (UBT), among others. Additionally, he has reached out to the Congress party, which has remained undecided on whether to support or reject the Delhi ordinance.

Last week, CM Kejriwal said that he is awaiting Congress' statement on the denouncement of Centre's Delhi Ordinance. During an Opposition meeting in Patna last month, the Grand Old Party assured Kejriwal that a statement on the Ordinance would be issued well before the start of Parliament's Monsoon Session.

The Delhi CM told the media that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had received the invitation to the Opposition meeting, but he was still waiting for the Congress' response on the Ordinance.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had said, "We all want to fight together against BJP and our agenda is to remove it... I don't know about the reason why Kejriwal is saying that AAP might walk out of the coalition if Congress doesn't support them on ordinance issue."

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"But, he might be aware of the fact that it can neither be proposed or opposed (officially) outside of Parliament. Before the Parliament session begins, all parties will meet to decide the agenda which will be raised during the session. His party will also be a part of those discussions. So we will take a decision on the issue during that meeting," he added.

On Thursday, the government listed as many as 21 bills, including the one on the contentious Delhi ordinance, personal data protection, to amend forest conservation laws, for the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament beginning July 20.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has recently issued a notice to the Centre in response to a plea filed by the Delhi government. The plea challenges the constitutional validity of the ordinance regarding the control of services in the national capital. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, leading the bench, has directed the Delhi government to amend its plea and include the Lieutenant Governor as a party in the case.