Fewer Oppn MPS may attend budget session

NEW DELHI: Some prominent opposition parties, such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Dravida Munnetra Khazagam (DMK), may have fewer numbers in the Budget session of Parliament starting on Friday because their MPS are busy with campaigns for assembly elections in their home states of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, according to leaders in both parties.

Elections are due to take place in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu in April-may, along with polls in Assam, Kerala and the Union territory of Puducherry.

“Our presence will be minimal in the session as most of our MPS are required back home to prepare for the polls,” Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’ Brien said.

The TMC, with 34 MPS the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha after the Congress, faces a triangular contest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congressleft

alliance in what is expected to be its toughest electoral test in West Bengal.

Several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPS were told by the party leadership not to attend the previous the monsoon session, too, because of Covid-19 numbers were surging at the time.

Two DMK MPS said on condition of anonymity that their party, too, cannot afford to send all MPS to Parliament on a daily basis at this time because elections are drawing near in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK is hoping to wrest Tamil Nadu from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the upcoming elections. The party is expected to tie up with the Congress, and some local political parties

The BJP is in power in Assam, and the Congress in Puducherry.