Opp. to field joint RS chair candidate

A day before the all- party meeting for the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, the leaders of Opposition parties met on Monday evening. During the meeting, the Opposition parties decided to field a joint Opposition candidate for the post of deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The post fell vacant after the end of the term of P. J. Kurien on July 1.

The Opposition agreed that the election should be held as soon as possible.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar suggested that the three largest Opposition parties — Congress, Trinamul Congress and the Samajwadi Party — should first meet and zero in on the deputy chairman candidate and then come to the rest of the Opposition parties. Sources say that the post is most likely to go to the Trinamul Congress but even a candidate from the NCP may be considered.

The leaders that attended the meeting included Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, NCP Chief Pawar, AITC MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra, SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav. Leaders of 13 Opposition parties were present in the meeting. The meeting was held to spell out a strategy to corner government for the upcoming Monsoon Session. The last Session of Parliament was washout. Invitation for the meeting was also sent to the AAP, but no member of the party showed up in the meeting.