LAC row and job crisis among key issues as Cong charts Parl strategy

NEW DELHI: The Congress plans to push for discussions on the India-china border situation, price rise, unemployment and the “tension” between the judiciary and the central government during the winter session in Parliament, beginning from December 7, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

The chances of any discussion on the LAC situation, however, is virtually nil as the government has rejected such demands on earlier occasions.

On Saturday, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi held a strategy meeting with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, its Lok Sabha’s floor leader Adhir Chowdhury

and others to chart the agenda for the session.

“The Congress president mentioned some 14 or 15 issues, which included unemployment, legal guarantee of MSP for farmers, inflation, and cybercrimes (like the recent ransomware attack at AIIMS). The fifth issue he raised is that the rights-based laws made during the UPA regime, rightbased registration, RTI, MNREGA, Forest Rights Act, Forest Act, are being diluted,” Jairam Ramesh, general secretary for communications, said after the meeting.

Apart from the border situation, the Congress wants to focus on the economic situation. “Inflation, unemployment, GST, the way the public assets are being sold to the selected capitalists, the economic conditions that the country is facing today, the figures also show that exports are falling, there has been a huge fall in the value of dollar and rupee. So we will definitely ask for a debate on this.”

He said another issue the Congress plans to raise is “interference” in public institutions. “Those who are the pillars of our democracy - Media, Judiciary, Election Commission, are such institutions which are being interfered with. Those who are being made a part of the Prime Minister and Prime Minister’s Office, it is impossible and definitely the Congress party would like a debate about it.”

The party is also planning to demand that the Biological Diversity Amendment Bill 2021 and the Multi State Cooperative Societies Amendment Bill 2022 be sent to the Standing Committee.